Persona 3: For Every Soul
by sykotiksonik
Summary: Minato Arisato arrives in Port Island; the site of his family's gruesome murder. Once he learns the cause of the paradox that did them in, he vows to destroy it for his them. Along the way he becomes friends with the rest of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, who each have their own reason for fighting. Will Minato become the hero his family deserves? (CANCELLED)
1. Chapter 1: Arrival in Iwatodai

**Chapter 1: Arrival in Iwatodai**

"Now arriving at Iwatodai Station. Repeat: now arriving at Iwatodai Station. This will be our last stop, so any and all passengers remaining please exit the train car."

Minato Arisato had been lucky his MP3 player had finished the last song. He wouldn't have heard the announcement if it hadn't.  
17 years old, he had been transfered over to Port Island after his latest home, his aunt and uncle, had complained that he was "too quiet" and "seriously creepy", and most especially had "too much agression".

Well you try living with the image of your parent's demise for 10 years and see how it makes you feel. Minato considered himself one of the lucky ones: plenty of kids would've snapped or killed themselves after something as horrific as that. Minato, however, only suffered from a case of PTSD, and while it wasn't debilitating, it did hamper on his mood heavily.

This, is one of those times.

For Port Island holds a... shall we say "special" place in Minato's heart, and most importantly, his memories.

For Port Island was the site of his parent's grusome murder.

Young Minato was only 7 years old, on the day of December 31st, 1999. His family: father Junichiro, mother Hikawa, and younger sister Hamuko had all gone to a New Year's Eve party with Mr. and Mrs. Takeba, who Minato could never remember their names. He had looked forward to finally meeting their daughter that day, but she unfortunately fell ill and couldn't make it. Everyone had a great time, but the Arisato's had wished to countdown to the new millennium at home (it doesn't help that Hikawa had gotten very drunk.) They were crossing the Moonlight Bridge, when suddenly the radio clock read 00:00. Everything turned into a sickening green color, and the car was no longer moving.

That was not what young Minato had been traumatized by, however. It was the fact that after waking up from his head colliding with the back of the passenger's seat, Minato noticed something strange. Mainly, his father was no longer in the car, the windshield was shattered, and his mother and Minako were now coffins, surronded by a dark red glow.  
Minato soon became panicked, wrestling with his seatbelt in an effort to escape and look for help. As he was able to get free, he noticed a police car nearby, and decided to run to the policeman for help.

Minato never made it to the police car.

Minato noticed out of the corner of his eye something big, and turned his head to the left to look. And he stopped dead in his tracks.

A giant monster, impossible to describe, fighting a teenage girl. Except this girl was flying. And had guns.

Minato, desperate at this point, decided to do something he knew was a bad idea: he called out for help.

Both the monster and the girl stopped and turned towards him. Minato remembers nothing after that because, unbeknownest to him, the monster launched a very powerful wind, which knocked him back with much force and velocity into a nearby car. His car.

Minato woke up in the hospital 3 days later, with the doctors telling him that he had suffered some severe head trauma. But more importantly, that none of his family survived the car crash.

 _Car crash_ Minato thinks to himself to this day. _Such bullshit_. Minato knew the truth, but he was also smart enough to know that nobody in their right mind would believe a story like that.

So Minato has dealt with this for the better part of 10 years. Yeah, you'd probably be an agressive social recluse as well were that to happen to you.

But, Minato sighed and stood up to get his bags. Nothing he could do about it now: he was always told you have to deal with the hand life gives you. He never was much for poker.

As Minato stepped off the train, he grabbed both his MP3 player and a map of the Iwatodai district, where he would be staying in a dormitory. Minato thanked his lucky stars he'd be living with other kids, who he could actually try to get to know. As Minato listened to his favorite song, "Burn My Dread", he read the map and soon came to the conclusion that if he were to walk at an average pace, he would reach the dorms within an hour. He liked walking, so he again thanked his lucky stars. Minato figured he could get used to the area despite being so late at night.

That's when it hit.

The music shut off, the area became covered in that sickening green, and Minato's eyes looked up from the map.

Now, Minato has always been told he's calm, cool, and collected. Doesn't let much of anything faze him. A natural leader. So what does a natural leader do in this situation?

He ran.

If anyone were to see him, if this were a normal midnight, they'd probably be wondering why this blue haired kid was running through the streets at midnight

Minato was absolutely not thinking about that whatsoever. Minato was thinking about getting the hell out of the situation. Minato was normally calm during this paradox: growing up in it for 10 years will do that to you, but the memories of that day flooded him, and he felt pure fear the entire way to Iwatodai Dormitories, as his lungs burned from the energy and the smell of blood everywhere.

Minato really has some lucky stars, because he made it to the dormitories in half an hour. He burst through the door and just collapsed onto the floor, scared, in pain, and just exhausted. It took Minato about 15 minutes to collect himself. Thankfully nobody is active in this paradox, or else Minato would be in some serious shit. He stood himself up and looked around. A TV sat in the corner, some chairs and couches with a coffee table in the middle of them to his right.

"I've been waiting for you."

If Minato had not been exhausted from his ordeal, he surely would've jumped in fright. However, he just looked over to his left, and took in the sight of a young boy holding a contract of sorts.

"You must sign this." the boy calmly stated. "Don't worry: all it says is you'll take responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff."

Minato was both so exhausted, but also so happy to see somebody not inside a coffin that he simply smiled softly and grabbed the contract, signing it.

The boy chuckled. "Excellent." The boy took the contract from Minato's hands. "Time waits for no one. It delivers us all to the same end." The boy was slowly disappering into the shadows. "You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes forvever."

Minato processed what the boy had said as he finally disappered, trying to think the whole situation over as he regained his cool, when suddenly he heard a shrill female shout.

"WHO ARE YOU!?"

Minato looked up to see a brown haired girl, maybe around his age, wearing a pink sweater and a skirt. What caught Minato's eyes most however, was what she was holding:

A gun.

Now Minato had plenty of experience with a gun being aimed at his head, despite this girl not having drawn hers yet, so he simply raised his hands and spoke softly. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Who are you!? What do you want!?" The girl had not been convinced, anger and fear rising in her voice. Yet she seemed very hesitant to draw that gun, despite possibly being in a life threatining situation. Minato then came to two conclusions:

That gun was a prop ment to intimidate potential threats, or she had never used a gun once in her life.

Before Minato could explain further, a new voice came from upstairs: a stern, slightly older sounding, yet still calm female voice.

"Takeba!"

Minato's eyes quickly grew wide, while this Takeba girl had turned to the stairs. Could it be?

Minato had no time to think about it, because suddenly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen came walking down the stairs. A young woman with gorgeous, flowing red hair, a white ruffled blouse, and a black skirt. She made eye contact with Minato and spoke once again.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late."

Before Minato could respond, Takeba quickly spoke up. "Who's he?" she asked, still very cautious.

"He's a transfer student. He'll be transferring into another dorm later on, but the Chairman decided to stick him here for the time being."

Minato finally spoke up to introduce himself. "Minato Arisato, very nice to meet you both."

The redhead seemed to enjoy Minato's politeness, giving off a small but warm chuckle and then introducing herself. "Likewise, my name is Mitsuru Kirijo, a third year, and this is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a second year, just like you."

Yukari finally seemed to have let her guard down and smiled warmly. "Hello, it's nice to meet you." She turned back to Mitsuru and quietly whispered something, just barely audible enough for Minato to catch it, but he wasn't paying attention to that. Rather, he was still stunned by the last name of Yukari. Could it be mere coincidence?

Minato must've had the dumbest look on his face, because Yukari had suddenly grown concerned and asked "Are you alright, Minato?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just... some bad memories from this area. Plus, your last name: I once knew a family by the name of Takeba, and they had a daughter, but I never met her and learned her name. Crazy, huh?"

Yukari was stunned into silence, while Mitsuru simply chuckled again. "Quite a coincidence, wouldn't you say Arisato?"

"Yeah, that's probably it. Just a little weird, you know?"

With that, suddenly the green hue had disappered, the lights turned back on, and Minato's MP3 player came to life. These two girls seemed completely unfazed by the situation, suggesting this was a normal occurence around this area. Minato hardly even noticed: he was exhausted from his ordeal.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way" Mitsuru spoke up, breaking the awkward silence "I suggest we all get some sleep. It is past midnight after all. Takeba will show you to your room, Arisato. Good night."

With that, Mitsuru walked back up the stairs, and Yukari motioned for Minato to follow her. They walked to the second floor and walked all the way down the hall, stopping in front of the final door.

"Here it is. Oh, and don't lose your room key, or you'll _NEVER_ hear the end of it." Yukari rolled her eyes at that last statement. Minato was pretty sure she knew from experience. "So, do you have any questions?"

Minato knew exactly what he wanted to ask. "Does that kid live here too?"

Yukari looked at him like he was crazy. "Kid? What kid?" She honestly had no idea. "C'mon, stop pulling my leg." Minato decided to drop the subject.

Yukari turned to leave, before stopping and turning back to Minato. "Hey... about tonight..."

"I won't say a word."

Yukari was a bit surprised that Minato knew exactly what she was going to ask, but was thankful nonetheless. "Ok, thanks. Well, see you tomorrow Minato!" With that, she finally turned away and entered her room a few doors down. Minato decided to do the same.

As Minato entered his room, he decided to see if his aunt and uncle had shipped everything he asked for. His PS2 was under the TV, his guitar had been placed delicately in the corner of the closet, and his laptop was placed neatly on the desk. Whoever placed his items in the room was very careful, and Minato respected that. With that, he decided it was finally time to go to sleep. And sleep he did.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: I updated this chapter, replaced some aspects of Minato that I didn't like (him having a therapist, his leg injury from soccer), and just changed a little dialouge to make it flow better with the rest of the story.**_

 _ **Also I set up something reaaaaaally important with one of my changes, see if you can guess what. See ya next time peoples!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Gekkoukan High

**Chapter 2: Gekkoukan High**

"Hello, are you in there?"

Minato was disturbed from his sleep by a voice, and some pounding on his door. As he started coming to his senses, the voice spoke again.

"Hello! Please answer the door, or I'll get in trouble!"

Minato realized it was Yukari at his door, and hurried to his door, opening it. He immediately regretted that decision, as he realized he was still in his bed wear.

"Give me a minute, please?" Minato shut the door without waiting for a response. He hurriedly put on his new school uniform, not bothering to make sure everything was in perfect arrangement. He never did. He left the school jacket opened up, making his white dress shirt and red tie visible. After quickly combing his blue hair, he exited the room, with Yukari visibly impressed. Minato, however, didn't understand why, and asked her.

"Yukari, what's that look for?"

"Huh?" Yukari responded absently, before coming to her senses. "OH! Well, I mean I'm just impressed you were able to get ready so quickly. You look nice in your uniform, Minato."

Minato quickly blushed a hard crimson red. "O-oh. Uh, thanks... You look nice too, Yukari."

Now it was Yukari's turn to blush, and she blushed harder than Minato. "D-don't say it like that! It sounds so..."

Deciding to change the (very) awkward subject, Minato asked "So, when does the train leave?"

Yukari looked at her watch. "In 15 minutes!? We've got to hurry!"

And so they ran, barely able to make it to the train on time, and Minato immediately took a seat, with Yukari prefering to stand. They casually talked about previous school experiences, with Minato nonchalantly bringing up how in his last school he was top of the class. Yukari was impressed, but then mentioned how she believed not even Minato could outdo Mitsuru on exams.

"She's already studying college level material! Can you believe that!?"

"Actually, for someone like her, who seems to have an air of authority and confidence around her, as well as being a third year, I imagined she was very intelligent, and am thus only mildly intrigued that she's already that far ahead."

Yukari was stunned, which seems to be a normal reaction for her around Minato. She looked as if she was about to raise a counter argument, but decided against it. Instead, she turned her attention to the window, with Minato attempting to follow her gaze. He had to stand to get a good angle, and saw one of the most amazing sights he'd ever seen.

"There it is! Gekkoukan High School!"

It was Minato's turn to be stunned. "THAT!? That entire building is Gekkoukan!? You're kidding, right?"

Yukari simply shook her head. "Nope, that's Gekkoukan! It's situated on an entirely man made island! Doesn't it look beautiful?"

Minato couldn't help but agree.

After looking on in stunned silence for the rest of the trip, Minato and Yukari walked into the gates of Gekkoukan High School. Minato was just as impressed, if not more so when viewing the building up close. He was in awe.

"Over there is the Faculty Office, you're gonna want to go there before anywhere else so you can get your class assignment." Yukari pointed to the left as the duo walked in. Minato noticed a bulliten board, likely where class assignments were listed, but decided against the effort of squeezing through the crowd just to see his name, a number, and a letter. He would play it safe with the Faculty Office.

"Do you have any questions before I go?" Yukari asked.

"No, not really. I prefer learning the ins and outs of things myself." Minato calmly replied.

"Oh, ok. By the way, Minato... don't tell anybody about last night."

Minato mentally facepalmed. "Yukari, saying it out loud like that in front of people is gonna cause a few problems. Rumors, for starters."

Minato wasn't sure what the deepest possible shade of red was, but he was almost positive that Yukari's face had turned that color. He found it a bit cute, and chuckled to himself.

Yukari ran off without another word, likely to the board for her class assignment. Minato decided to head to the left. As he made the short trip to the Faculty Office, he decided to take note of some of the students he passed by. A stern looking young boy seemed to be giving a lecture of some sorts to a young man in a track suit oddly enough. Minato assumed it was because the boy wasn't wearing his uniform. He also passed by two students, one with blond hair and one wearing a hat, who seemed to be discussing Final Fantasy. Minato liked the Dragon Quest series more.

Finally, Minato entered the Faculty Office, where a female teacher came up to him. "And who might you be, young man?" She asked kindly.

"I'm Minato Arisato, I'm a transfer student looking for my class assignment."

The woman looked at Minato with a puzzled expression on her face for what seemed like a few seconds, then said "Oh, that's right! I did hear about a transfer student! Let me just see... there it is!" She picked up what he assumed was his file and began to read it. "Hm, 17 years old, Second Year, former soccer star at your last school!? Interesting. And in 1999-"

Minato visibly winced.

The teacher gasped. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to read many of the transfer student files!"

That was no excuse, Minato thought, but he simply responded with a polite "It's ok."

As Minato attempted to compose himself and supress his anger, the teacher spoke up. "I'm Ms. Toriumi. You'll be in my class, 2-F this year! I hope you have a great year Minato!"

Minato decided the best thing to do in this situation was to politely take leave and compose himself in the washroom. After a few minutes, he left to go to his new class. However, once he realized it was nothing but the standard introduction to the class, he decided to take a nap. Minato had mastered the art of sleeping in class.

Once the bell rang, Minato had woken up from his nap to find the hatted student from before standing in front of his desk.

"Can I help you?"

The boy laughed and said "Hey, chill out a bit there buddy! I'm just seeing if you were alright! You slept through the whole class, so you gotta teach me your secrets!"

Minato was just starting to get a tad bit annoyed, when he heard Yukari address the situation. "Stupei, leave him alone! God, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen long enough."

'Stupei' just grinned and responded back. "Well well, if it isn't Yuka-tan! Hey, don't worry, I'm just making friendly coversation!" His grin disappeared. "I know what it's like to be a new transfer kid, so I thought I'd help him out!"

Yukari just facepalmed and ignored what the boy had to say. She turned to Minato. "By the way, you didn't tell anyone about last night, did you?"

Minato sighed in frustration. "Yukari-" he began, but was cut off by an excited 'Stupei'.

"Ooh, last night, huh? Come on, what happened, spill the beans!"

Yukari furiously blushed while Minato simply continued. "This is exactly what I was talking about, Yukari."

The boy attempted to lighten the situation, obviously noticing how hostile things seemed to be getting. "Come on guys, I'm just playing around! Whatever happened last night, I doubt anyone would even care!"

Yukari just stormed off furiously while Minato just stared at 'Stupei'. It had the desired effect, because almost immediately he became uncomfortable. "Uh, really sorry about that. My name's Junpei Iori, if... if you ever wanna hang out or anything."

Minato extended his hand. "Name's Minato Arisato. And I'll think about that." Junpei cautiously took his hand and shook it, and then attempted to leave calmly. Attempted, meaning he burst out the door like a scared child. Minato couldn't help himself from laughing.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: So yeah, this chapter was a little shorter than last time. Don't worry, I already have 4 chapters finished, and working on the 5th by the time this goes up. You noticed that Minato is not the biggest fan of stupid statements, right? And he's not too big on people bringing up '99. And finally, the introduction of Junpei went a little bit differently, mainly because I thought it would be funny. I hope it had the desired effect. Anyways, I've got a quick question for you: Would you like to see this story go third person or first person? If you want first person, I can easily change the following chapters, but you'll miss out on just a few little moments where Minato wasn't physically there, such as a moment in Chapter 4. Regardless, I thank you for following, favoriting, and hopefully reviewing! Long Author's Note is long! see ya next time, peoples!**_

 _ **(Once again, minor updates changing up one or two pieces of dialouge. Nothing important)**_


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome to the Velvet Room

_**Before we begin, I have a review to respond to. This is how it will always go, I'll always respond to reviews before the start of the chapter. With that said, here we go.**_

 _ **IzanagiOmega: Thanks, dude I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy the story!**_

 **Chapter 3: Welcome to the Velvet Room**

After a nice laughing fit at Junpei's cowardice, Minato decided to take a stroll through the Iwatodai district in an effort to familiarize himself with the area. He took mental notes of his surrondings, such as a Wild Duck Burger on the ground floor of a 3 floor section, and a bookstore, currently closed for business to the right of it. Minato frowned, wishing to have purchased a new book or two for something to do at the dorm, but then noticed that the shop will only be closed for another 2 weeks due to termite infestation. He continued walking, noting down that there was nothing very interesting around the rest of the area, and then casually walked into the dorm.

"Welcome back." Mitsuru noted. Minato gave her a silent nod before signing in at the check in station, where that "contract" was signed. Yukari noticed and thought it very strange.

"You know nobody else hear signs in, right Minato?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I just feel right doing it. Can't explain it." Minato responded.

"Everybody has their quirks, Takeba." Mitsuru chimed in. "But that does remind me, Arisato, we do have some ground rules we need to cover."

"Alright, shoot."

"Well," Mitsuru began. "First of all, we have a strict 9:00 PM curfew. Also, you are not allowed outside after 6:30 PM. It's fairly dangerous out at night and we don't want any students getting involved in any sort of incidents. Do you understand, Arisato?"

Minato didn't quite understand the rules of no outdoors after 6:30, but felt he was in no place to argue or complain. "No problem."

"Great. I'm glad to hear we're on the same page." Mitsuru smiled warmly.

"So, can I expect to become friends with whoever's here, or will we just be, like people who just live together?" Minato hated those kind of relationships.

Mitsuru looked him in the eye. "Well, Arisato, it all depends on whether you wish to make an effort. All of us here are friendly faces, unless you cross us." Minato gazed at her, a tad bit unnerved by how intimidating Mitsuru's presence had become. "But I'm sure that won't happen, now will it, Arisato?" Mitsuru smiled warmly, but still held that intimidating presence. Minato slowly nodded in agreement.

"Well then, now that we've got all of that out of the way," Yukari intervened "Minato, why don't you tell Mitsuru about your previous school experiences we talked about earlier."

"Oh, right, we did talk about that." Minato suddenly remembered. "Yukari thought you'd like to hear that I've been top in my class since 8th grade."

Mitsuru became intrigued. "Really? Well, looks like I'll have an academic rival this year then. I welcome the challenge." Mitsuru extended her hand. Minato eagerly grabbed it.

"Looking forward to it. We'll see who's smarter at the end of the year." Minato smirked. "Well, I'm gonna go back to my room and just surf the web, if anybody needs me."

"Oh, sorry, Minato." Yukari said. "We had to change internet providers, so the internet is out for today. It'll be back up tomorrow."

"Well then I'll just play some guitar."

"You play guitar!?" Yuakri exclaimed.

"Yeah, my mother bought me one when I was 5 and I've played ever since. I love to play all kinds of music."

"Mitsuru-senpai, would it be alright if we listened to Minato play a few songs? I'd like to hear him play." Yukari eagerly awaited an answer.

"Hm..." Mitsuru sat, thinking about it.

"Uh, if I may," Minato quietly said. "I'm not really used to playing in front of an audience..."

"I don't see why we couldn't, Takeba." Mitsuru finally commented. "Unless, of course, Arisato would prefer not to."

Yukari looked at him pleadingly, while Mitsuru simply waited for a response. Minato finally gave in. "I guess it'll be fine. Let me grab my guitar."

Yukari beamed in delight while Mitsuru simply gave a small nod of approval. Minato was up and down the stairs within 30 seconds.

"Alright, do you just want to hear me play a few songs, or sing them too? Fair warning, I won't play the full songs if I sing, and I don't think I'm that good of a singer."

Yukari was buzzing with anticipation. "I don't mind either, honestly! I just want to hear you play!"

Minato turned to Mitsuru. "Well, Mitsuru, it's your call now then."

Mitsuru sat, thinking it over, before finally finding an answer. "If it's alright with you, Arisato, I'd like to hear you sing." Mitsuru gave a small smile as she said that.

"Alright then, I'll sing and play a few songs. Let's say... 2? It's getting pretty late after all." Minato began playing two of his favorite songs, an American song called "Running Blind", and his favorite song to play, "Burn My Dread". Though Minato honestly believed his singing ability was nothing special, his vocal performance of "Running Blind" was enough to bring Yukari to tears, though Minato never considered it that sad of a song. _'She probably has never heard it before.'_ Minato thought. After some honest and kind words from both Yukari and Mitsuru, Minato began to pack his guitar up when a new face suddenly emerged into the dorm.

"Hey, what kind of party is this here?" the confident looking young man said as he walked in.

"Welcome back, Akihiko-senpai!" Yukari greeted the young man, known now as Akihiko. "Minato here was just playing a few songs for us!"

"Ah, so you must be the new transfer student." Akihiko said. "My name's Akihiko Sanada, a third year. Good to meet you." Akihiko extended his hand towards Minato, who gladly shook it. "Minato Arisato, the pleasure's mine. As Yukari said, I was just playing some songs here, but I'm about to head back up and go to bed. Goodnight, Akihiko-senpai!" Minato carefully picked up his guitar, which he immediately set down next to the restroom he walked into shortly after. Akihiko whispered to Mitsuru "Seems like a good kid. You sure Ikutsuki-san is right about him, Mitsuru?"

"Akihiko, I have no reason to believe the Chairman is wrong in his assessment of Arisato." Mitsuru stated matter of factly. She suddenly frowned. "However, I will admit I have my doubts as well, which is why I requested the Chairman come here tomorrow to monitor the situation."

"What's this about a Chairman?" Minato asked, suddenly out of the restroom, having overheared that last little bit of the entire conversation. His sudden precense caused everyone to jump just a little bit, barely noticeable. Mitsuru cleared her throat.

"We were discussing the fact that the Chairman is coming over tomorrow to introduce himself and monitor the dorm for a little while."

Minato grew suspicious, but once again felt he had no place to question it. "Oh, alright then. Goodnight everybody"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Arisato."

As Minato walked into his bedroom, he suddenly became extremely tired. So tired in fact, that he passed out almost immediately as his face hit his pillow. He then woke up, in an unfamiliar place, shrouded in a deep blue, that looked like an eternally ascending elevator. Then suddenly, he heard a voice call out to his direction.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

Minato quickly spun is head in the direction of the voice, and his eyes widened in curiosity and intrigue. There, sitting across from him, behind a small desk, was an old man with bloodshot eyes, a wide and maniacal smile, and the longest nose Minato had ever seen. Was he even human? Minato was unsure. The old man began to speak up again.

"Do not be alarmed, young man. You are fast asleep in the real world."

Minato became a tad puzzled. "So, you're saying this is all just a dream?"

The old man chuckled. "Of sorts, yes. After all, I've summoned you here in your dreams."

"Summoned me? That makes no sense, old man."

His smile grew wider, as he explained. "This place is situated between dream and reality, mind and matter." He gasped." Ah, but I do believe we've gotten a little ahead of ourselves, haven't we? My name is Igor, and this young woman next to me is Elizabeth."

Minato had been so focused on Igor that he had failed to notice this Elizabeth character. But as soon as Minato took a look he was upset with himself that he hadn't noticed earlier. Pale skinned, with light blond hair, wearing a velvet dress and hat, almost like a blue elevator attendant. But what caught Minato's attention most was her eyes: golden yellow, piqued with curiosity, much like his own. She gave a quick little curtsey and spoke in a high pitched, yet sultry voice. "My name is Elizabeth. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Minato Arisato." Minato said as he extended his hand to both Igor and Elizabeth. "The pleasure is mine."

"Yes, well, now that introductions are out of the way" Igor continued "We are here to discuss this." With a wave of his hand the contract that Minato had signed appeared on the table. Minato was stunned, as Igor continued to speak. "Only those who have signed the contract are welcome here. Henceforth, you shall be welcomed as an honored guest here in this Velvet Room. Here, hold on to this." Igor procured a blue key from out of nowhere and gave it to Minato. "Till we meet again."

With that phrase, Minato's vision suddenly grew black, until the sight of Igor and Elizabeth had disappeared from his vision. He soon woke up again, this time back in his room. Minato was ready to write the whole thing of as a crazy dream, until he noticed the blue key still in his hand.

Minato had a strange feeling that life was about to get even stranger.

* * *

 **_You're damn right it's going to, Minato._**

 _ **Author's Note: Before we begin the A/N, I'd like to respond to a certain notification I receieved yesterday (at the time of this chapter going up), with as much grace and dignity as I possibly can. *ahem***_

 _ **OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!**_

 _ ***ahem* That is in response to finding out Dad of War is following my story. Thanks so much dude, I love "Let's Play Persona 3 FES", and am currently reading "Persona 3: The Alternity Paradox". Go check those out, if you haven't, fantastic stuff so far! Now if I can get Samjaz and MagnusRagnar to also follow it, I think I'll die of happiness. But I digress**_

 _ **Now we're slowly but surely starting to get into the good stuff! I've given more of an explained reason why Minato is initially not allowed outside, with a curfew and everything, and here we're introduced to one of Minato's passions: music. This is a bit of an self insert here, even though unlike Minato I can not play guitar (or any instrument, really), I still love music to death. What are some of your favorite songs? You'll find mine scattered throughout this story. And I had Akihiko actually introduce himself before the S.E.E.S. scene because I personally like it this way. Remember to let me know whether you want this story to go in first person or continue in third person! See ya next time, peoples!**_


	4. Chapter 4: The Full Moon

_**Time to answer some reviews!**_

 _ **IzanagiOmega**_ _ **: That's one vote for third person! I'll keep writing a few more chapters and see where this goes in third person! I also agree that the Velvet Room is the beginning of everything.**_

 _ **Dad of War:**_ _ ***stay calm, stay calm* All kidding and fanboying aside, I absolutely thank you for the constructive criticism. I'm glad you seem to like the character I've given Minato. Now, for the responses to everything else.**_

 _ **1) With Minato being buddy-buddy with everyone in S.E.E.S. almost immediately, I can see how that would be irksome. It's not really something that happens in real life, or the movie at all. I'm assuming it's Japanese custom to refer to people via last name, unless you are extremely close to that person, but honestly... just as you have probably noticed I mostly dropped honorifics, it's not something I'm too keen on. But in story I'm giving the excuse (a lazy one at that) that not only is my Minato a very polite person (despite having some snide thoughts to himself every now and then, as you'll see in this chapter), but in Yukari's case specifically, he had previously known Yukari's family. This is his first time meeting Yukari however. Not really an excuse for everyone else though, I'll admit. I can absolutely see where you're coming from.**_

 _ **2) This one me and you agree on 100%. After re-reading the other chapters, I agree that I'm kinda rushing through things here. In all honesty, I've just been trying to get to the "good stuff" as I call it: Pretty much everything that happens after the Magician Shadow. In my opinion, the beginning of the game is pretty slow, and there's not much going on that's worth noting, which I guess is why I've added my own little scenes (the small "confrontation" between Minato and Mitsuru last chapter, or the beginning of this chapter for example) or just skimmed or even skipped some scenes. I'm also just not very good at being descriptive, I'll admit. I'm trying damn hard to work on that, not just for this story but for pretty much my whole life. I feel like I did a little better in these next two chapters (working on 6 right after I finish typing this), slowed things down a little, y'know?**_

 _ **3) Most of those I haven't thought too far ahead. I've got a few minor ideas, especially pairings (honestly, romance is NOT my strong point), and I've thought of a little reference to the Persona 3 FTW comic I love so much in Yakushima, but besides that I go with the flow, mainly think while I write "What would work here?", but I also read some other fics, see what they did, and see what I can do to differentiate from the game enough to make it my own, without also copying those fics, or just make things a little too insane for my own liking. I'd like to at least kinda stay rooted in reality (well, as much "reality" as a game where shooting yourself in the head summons magic monsters during a time where normal people turn into coffins, water turns into blood, and other magic monsters live only during that time allows).**_

 _ **4) You absolutely deserved that shout out, dude. I wanna say these two things right here (for some reason.)**_  
 _ **1: I've been reading The Alternity Paradox (currently up to chapter 47, because I have no life right now lol), and I want to congratulate you for making things so insane in that story, completely twisting Persona 3 into something near unrecognizable, with Makoto's sanity being questioned so much not just by him, but the reader themselves. I read a fic a while ago that was trying to do what you're doing, but what turned me off was I got the feeling the author was making Makoto/Minato just insane for the sake of being insane, and evil for the sake of evil. I don't get that vibe from your story so far.**_  
 _ **2: Thank you so much for the kind words, the advice, and just being a reader in general. I hope the rest of the story doesn't disappoint, and if it does, be sure to let me know.**_

 _ **WOW THAT WAS LONG! ONWARD TO THE STORY (FINALLY!)**_

 **Chapter 4: The Full Moon**

As Minato sat and attempted to contemplate what had occured last night in his dreams, a voice called out to him from outside his room.

"Hey, Minato! Are you awake yet?"

This time Minato recognized the voice not belonging to Yukari, but of Akihiko, something that surprised him a little bit, even more so when Minato opened his door to find Akihiko in more casual wear compared to his red vest and white long sleeve shirt he had seen last night.

"Uh, hey Akihiko-senpai. What's up?"

"Oh, Mitsuru just wanted me to ask if you'd like to join in some breakfast a little earlier than normal, so I could have time to properly introduce myself to you."

Minato realized he hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday and was pretty hungry. "Yeah sure, who's cooking?"

"Actually, no one's cooking. Mitsuru's having it ordered in this morning."

Minato was taken aback. He had always been taught that having a homemade breakfast was a good way to start your day, and he certainly believed it.

"I don't want Mitsuru wasting any money. I'll cook us all up something good in a few minutes."

It was Akihiko's turn to be taken aback. Not expecting the new transfer student's jarring answer, he was found at a loss for words as Minato hurried down the stairs.

"Mitsuru-senpai, I heard you're thinking of ordering in breakfast this morning." Minato announced as he reached downstairs, with Akihiko closely behind him.

"Why yes I am, Arisato." Mitsuru responded. "Is there a problem?"

"With all due respect, Mitsuru-senpai, I do find a problem. I'd like to have a homemade meal for breakfast."

Just like Akihiko, who had just gotten down the stairs, Mitsuru was taken aback by this. However, unlike Akihiko, she quickly recovered and responded with a simple "So I assume you plan to proclaim you'll be cooking us breakfast today?"

Minato responded with a respectful, yet forceful tone. "I didn't mean any disrespect, Mitsuru-senpai, it's just I'm passonite about my cooking, and when Akihiko-senpai had told me you were gonna order in, I just felt I wanted to give everybody a better option."

Akihiko jumped in before Mitsuru could respond. "Hey, Mitsuru, I actually kind of agree with him here. Let him cook something up for us. He's offering, after all."

Mitsuru thought for a few moments, before finally agreeing to let Minato cook up some pancakes, and eggs. Minato quickly got to work, and within 20 minutes, right as Yukari was coming down the stairs, Minato had announced that breakfast was indeed ready.

Yukari, who had no idea what had just transpired, gratefully thanked Minato and proceeded to take a seat and dig into her pancakes, almost as if it were the first time she ever had any. Akihiko and Mitsuru were slower to join in, but also enjoyed Minato's pancakes and eggs, Mitsuru especially.

"Arisato," she said in between bites "Where did you learn to cook such a simple dish so well?" Minato was flattered, a slight pink tint growing on his face at the compliment. "My dad was a chef, so I was always cooking with him, since I was about 3. Then it just kind of... escalated, and now it's something I love doing."

"Well they're honestly some of the best pancakes and eggs I've ever tasted." Akihiko remarked. "And that's saying something."

"I agree!" Yukari exclaimed, obviously very happy with her breakfast this morning.

"Well I'm glad everybody's enjoying it." Minato softly smiled. "But, you said you wanted to 'properly introduce yourself', Akihiko-senpai?"

"Oh, yes!" Akihiko had forgotten amidst all the happenings this morning. "Well, as you already know, I'm Akihiko Sanada. What you may not know is that I'm the captain of the boxing team."

Minato was impressed. "You box?"

"Undefeated."

Minato chuckled. "Remind me not to get in a fight with you. I've got some martial arts experience, but not enough to be a captain."

Akihiko was intrigued. "Which martial arts?"

"Some karate, some jiu-jitsu, a little bit of judo, but mainly kickboxing."

Akihiko was similarly impressed. "Ever done tournaments or anything?"

Minato started to get a fierce look in his eyes and a nostalgic smile on his face. "I've only ever done one amateur MMA tournament, and that was back when I lived in visited England for about 2 months with my aunt and uncle. Made it all the way to the finals, and I was even winning that fight on points until the kid got my back and locked in the tightest rear naked I've ever felt. I passed out 3 seconds from the end of the round, and I would've won that fight."

Everybody was fairly impressed, even Yukari, though she had no idea what Minato was talking about. Everybody felt Minato's pride as he recalled that memory.

Eventually, it was time for school, and as Minato was walking to the gate, he was able to overhear an interesting conversation between two female students.

"Hey, did you hear the new rumor?"

"Oh, um... something about a bathroom?"

"NO, not that one!" _Wait, there's a rumor about a bathroom?_ "I meant the one about the first year student! She stopped coming to school and all she does is sit in her room staring at the walls all day muttering 'It's coming, it's coming!' Weird, huh?" _That sounds disturbing, she should get some help_.

"Oh, how about that?"

"You don't believe me!?" The student sounded offended, but quickly got over it. She didn't seem to believe it either.

"Hey there, you're Minato Arisato, right?"

Minato turned around and spotted that blonde haired boy who was discussing Final Fantasy with Junpei on Minato's first day.

"Yeah," he cautiously replied "but how do you know me? More importantly, who are you?"

The student chuckled. "Man, everybody knows you! You're famous around here!"

Minato was confused. "I've been here for like two days, how am I famous?"

The student grew a huge grin on his face. "You don't just walk to school with the most popular chick in school without people taking notice! You move fast, Minato, you dog you!"

Minato then understood. "Oh, you mean Yukari."

The student had a shocked looked on his face. "What!? You saying you didn't know!?"

"Look, kid. I've known Yukari for a grand total of 2 days, and the only thing I know about her is she lives in my dorm and Junpei calls her Yuka-tan."

The student sputtered. "You mean Yukari lives in your dorm, and you're not trying to date her!?"

"No, I'm not." Minato was starting to get annoyed. "No offense to Yukari, but she's not exactly my type. Neither is Mitsuru-senpai."

The nameless student's jaw dropped. "Please tell me you're not saying Mitsuru Kirijo and Yukari Takeba live in your dorm..."

"Akihiko-senpai, too."

"Minato, do you know how many guys here would kill to be in your position!?" The student was practically shouting at this point. "You are in a dorm with the two most popular and hottest chicks in the entire school, and the most respected guy in the entire school, and you're sitting here acting like it's no big deal!"

"Sounds about right, actually. It's really no big deal to me. Now if you'll excuse me, nameless, class is about to start."

The day went about smoothly, until the end, when Minato was packing up to leave. As he began packing up his things, he found the nameless student standing in front of his desk, seemingly angry. Minato internally sighed, as he didn't really feel like dealing with this kid again, but decided to at least try to be polite.

"Can I help you?"

The student was in fact angry. "Damn right you can help me! You're gonna tell me what you've done to get Yukari to actually talk to you at lunch!"

Minato rolled his eyes. "This again? Dude, she talked to me a grand total of 30 seconds reminding me of a thing happening at the dorm tonight. Speaking of which, I've gotta go."

Minato quickly got out of there, with a shouting Nameless trying to follow him, but being restrained by some students. Minato didn't care, and just tried to get back to the dorm as fast as possible. He was welcomed by an unfamiliar voice.

"Ah, welcome back, young man!"

Minato took one glance at the person who had welcomed him back and immediately felt disdain for this person. Wearing beige clothes, sporting a mullet, and a little patch of hair on his chin, Minato swore if he wasn't wearing glasses he'd have punched him.

The man stood up and walked over to Minato. "I believe we haven't had the chance to properly introduce ourselves. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki, and I'm the Chairman of Gekkoukan High School." Ikutsuki chuckled, while extending his hand. "Ikutsuki. It's pretty hard to say, don't you think? Even I have trouble introducing myself sometimes!" Ikutsuki had the dumbest looking smile on his face as he said that. Minato cautiously shook his hand and introduced himself, with a less polite tone than he had used with the others. "Minato Arisato. Ikutsuki... not that difficult, Ikutsuki-san."

Ikutsuki's smile wavered for just a second, before speaking up again. "Well regardless, the real reason I'm here is to not only monitor the dorm, but also tell you that the complications with your dorm placement are still being worked on, so you'll have to wait a little while longer before you get your official dorm assignment. Apologies for the mix-up."

"It's quite alright, Ikutsuki-san. Though if it were up to me, I'd prefer to stay here. But enough about me, I'm going upstairs to study."

"Ah yes, good idea, Minato! It's always a good idea to study. You probably shouldn't study for too long though: you don't want to overexert yourself. Please get to bed early. After all, the early worm catches the bookworm."

With that pun, it was almost as if the life had been sucked out of the entire dorm. Nothing but utter silence for what felt like years to Minato before Ikutsuki chuckled. "Please excuse the bad pun."

As Minato walked up the stairs to his room, he was stopped by Yukari. "Don't worry, Minato. You'll get used to his lame jokes."

"God I hope not, Yukari."

Minato decided that after that, the best course of action would be to take a quick shower to calm himself. He couldn't quite explain it, but there was _**something**_ about Ikutsuki that he didn't like one bit. Someone who has trouble pronouncing their own last name is someone who can't be trusted. After his shower, Minato studied for a bit before deciding to go to sleep. As he was neatly packing up his study materials, he noticed the beauty of the full moon on this clear night, and decided to break out his guitar and sing a song. It always put him in a good mood. He began playing, and singing in English.

 _ **A lonely road**_  
 _ **Crossed another cold state line**_  
 _ **Miles away from those I love**_  
 _ **Purpose undefined**_  
 _ **While I recall all the words you spoke to me**_  
 _ **Can help her wish that I was there**_  
 _ **And where I'd love to be**_  
 _ **Oh yeah**_

 _ **Dear God**_  
 _ **The only thing I ask of you**_  
 _ **Is to hold her when I'm not around**_  
 _ **When I'm much to far away**_  
 _ **We all need that person who can be true to you**_  
 _ **But I left her when I found her**_  
 _ **And now I'd wished I'd stayed**_

 _ **'Cause I'm lonely**_  
 _ **And I'm tired**_  
 _ **I'm missing you again oh no**_  
 _ **Once again**_

As Minato was playing the chorus, he glanced at his alarm clock. 11:58 it read. Minato decided not to play the full song, and decided to just pack it up after the chorus and get to sleep. Just as he had gotten ready for bed and laid down-

 _ **CRASH**_

 _ **BOOM**_

Minato bolted from his bed and out of his room, wondering just what in the hell happened. The whole dorm had shaken. He could hear panicked yelling from what sounded like Mitsuru.

"Takeba, get Arisato now and get to the roof! The Chairman, Akihiko and I will meet you there!"

"But, Akihiko-senpai is-"

"GO NOW!"

As Minato made his way to the top of the stairs to see what had been going on, Yukari happened to meet him up there as she was bolting up them.

"Minato, come on! We have to go!"

She grabbed Minato by the arm, and almost dragged him up the other stairs.

"Yukari, what's going on!?"

"I'll tell you in a moment, let's go!"

As they reached the door to the roof, Yukari quickly turned back to Minato and gave him what looked like a shortsword.

"For protection, just in case. Now let's go!"

Before Minato could respond, he was pulled to the roof. Breathing heavily, he and Yukari were looking at each other, silently asking if the other was alright.

"Ok..." Yukari gasped, trying to catch her breath. "We should be safe now."

"Ok... Yukari..." Minato said, also trying to catch his breath. "What the hell's going on!?"

Before Yukari could answer, another thunderous _ **BOOM**_ was heard, and again, the entire dorm had shook, though more violently than previously.

And then a giant hand was seen.

And then a giant black blob, with a blue mask that simply had "I" on it pulled itself up with said hand.

And then it's other 7 hands shot out, each holding swords.

And Minato could only stand, petrified in fear at the sight before him. His eyes glanced over to Yukari for an answer, and found she had a gun pointed towards her forehead. Minato wanted to scream out, tell her no, but he couldn't find his voice. Yukari seemed hesitant.

"Don't worry Minato." She said hesitantly. "I... I can do this. This is my power! I'll... I'll protect you!"

Yukari closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger. Minato internally screamed in horror.

But nothing happened.

Minato, still quite terrified, was also thankful the bullet had jammed. Meanwhile, Yukari had looked horrified and confused, audibly gasping. She quickly placed the gun against her forehead again, but before she had the chance to pull the trigger, the monster simply swatted her out of the way. Yukari dropped the gun and flew to the left side of the roof. Minato was horrified. Yukari was unconcious. And the third years were preparing for battle.

"Akihiko, we need to get to the roof now!" Mitsuru shouted as she observed what had transpired on the super computer on the 4th floor.

"Right! On it!" the silver haired boxer firmly stated, holding his left arm that was broken.

"Hold on you two." Ikutsuki calmly spoke. "Look."

Before the seniors could voice their objections, they had turned and had been entranced by what they were seeing on the screen. What they saw on the screen was Minato simply looking at the gun and picking it up. They didn't see what Minato had seen. What Minato had saw was pure fear, fear at the fact that this monster had possibly just killed Yukari, and was now going to kill him, until a simple flash of white, no more than a second long in reality, though it felt more like an eternity for Minato, with the young boy he had seen on his first night at the dorm standing in front of him.

"Go on. You can do it."

Suddenly, the white void disappeared, and Minato knew exactly what to do. Picking the gun up with a trembling hand, he pointed it at his temple. With fear in his voice, and tears in his eyes, Minato slowed his breathing and uttered three syllables, with a terrified smile on his face.

" _ **Per**_ -

 _ **so**_ -

 _ **na**_."

He pulled the trigger.

 _ **CRASH**_

Blue glass exploded from Minato's skull, and surronded him in a small twister. Minato was oddly calm, even as he heard a voice.

" _ **I am thou... thou art I. From the sea of thy soul, I cometh forth.**_ "

A figure had appeared over Minato, which he could only describe as near robotic. Silver, gray and white color scheme, with a red scarf and hair that looked oddly similar to Minato's, only white, with a harp strapped to it's back. The figure spoke again.

" _ **I am Orpheus. Master of strings!**_ "

Before Minato could even move, a searing headache occured, and Minato was nearly blinded by the pain. He barely saw what had occured next. Hands had appeared from Orpheus' mouth, and just as suddenly as they appeared, they had ripped Orpheus apart, revealing a moster who made a violent, hateful roar. This monster held a sword and coffins seemed to serve as a makeshit cape, but beyond that and the black color scheme, Minato couldn't make much of anything out, as he was in too much pain to notice that this monster had effortlessly sliced and dismantled the other monster. And then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared into the night with a _slightly_ more peaceful roar than before, along with Minato's headache. His vision clearing, he noticed two other mini versions of the giant monster that had just been slashed apart crawling towards him. Without even thinking, he grabbed the gun.

"Persona!"

 _ **BANG**_

And Orpheus had appeared above him, strumming his harp and igniting the two monsters into a blaze, burning them to ash. Orpheus once again disappeared, and Minato turned to check on Yukari. He took three steps before collapsing.

The last thing Minato heard before fading into unconciousness was the door to the roof banging open and Yukari screaming his name.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Yeah, looking back at this chapter, I was feeling really good up until the introduction of Orpheus. I have no other way to really describe him, but I feel calling him "near robotic" didn't do the guy justice. Also, I'm not proud of how I wrote the Thanatos scene, mainly because I also can't describe it very well, but I gave an excuse with Minato's searing headache and vision being severely blurred.**_

 _ **We immediately notice how little Minato actually thinks of Ikutsuki. This is because during my playthrough, I also didn't like him almost immediately. We're introduced to another of Minato's passions: cooking, and this time he sings! Can you guess the song? See ya next time, peoples!**_

 _ **(Added the scene about the bathroom rumor, which I personally thought was a funny scene at the beginning of the game).**_


	5. Chapter 5: SEES

_**More reviews, more answers!**_

 _ **IzanagiOmega**_ _ **: I'm really happy you enjoyed my depiction of that scene, even though I personally thought it wasn't done enough justice. Personally, there are a few other scenes in 3 that I think are better, but I think Thanatos emerging from Orpheus is a powerful way to get players to stay invested. And actually, Persona 4 was my first, but the funny thing is I have more memories of 3, which is why I decided to forgo my P4 novelization for this.**_

 _ **Dad of War**_ _ **: Hey, you're back! Sorry I'm not doing some of the things you said in your latest review, but I'm trying! I've never really written anything on this scale before, and now that I have an audience I wasn't expecting, I'm feeling a bit pressured, lol. I've actually taken the liberty of writing down your latest review in a seperate document, and am using that as "notes" and stuff. I should probably actually sit down and think about a lot of this story. Problem is I always get distracted, and then I stop for awhile and I don't want that. I want this story to be somewhat consistent (as best as I can make it, anyways). But again, I thank you for your kind words! Quickly regarding some of Minato's characteristics, with Minato I kinda wanted to insert a bit of myself into his character (once again, the absolute basics, such as his interactions with certain characters are based on my first playthrough), without totally changing him into me, and adding a few extra quirks and talents. I'm certainly not trying to make it seem like Minato's super perfect and amazing, I'm trying to just show off that he has more interests besides Personas and Shadows. Basically, a lot of people kinda seem to make Minato out to be, for lack of a better word, "emo", and I wanted to see how well a semi-socially awkward, yet very friendly and polite Minato would go. I've been trying to introduce his character and his emotions, and get them down pretty well before I start introducing his ideals and morals, though you will see a glimpse or two in this chapter. He's certainly not perfect, he will make mistakes, he will fuck up, and he will fail at some points. Also, by "breaks", I assume you mean something like this:**_

* * *

 _ **right? Cause if so, I'll try to find some chances to include those. Again, I've never written anything like this before lol (I'm writing this section after the chapter has already been finished, lol. I kinda tend to get ahead and write (or record, in when my Youtube channel was active) in bulk, which is why there will be no "breaks" in this chapter. Currently working on Chap. 6 as I type this!)**_

 _ **ON TO THE CHAPTER!**_

 **Chapter 5: S.E.E.S.**

"It's so nice to see you again."

Minato was awoken by that familiar voice, to find he was back in the Velvet Room. Confused by the events that had just occured, he asked "What happened to me?"

Igor chuckled. "You became unconcious, after awakening to your power. It's nothing to worry about, however, so please, just relax."

Before Minato could respond, Igor continued. "I can see that it was Orpheus who heeded your call. Quite interesting, I must admit."

Elizabeth took this oppertunity to speak up. "I personally was hoping for one such as Anansi." A chuckle escaped her lips. "Perhaps in an alternate universe."

Minato finally decided to take the metaphorical microphone and speak his questions. "You two keep bringing refrence to Orpheus, and Anansi, but what does an ancient Greek musician, and an African spider god have to do with me?"

"My dear young man," Igor stated very calmly "Orpheus is the result of the power you recently showcased."

"What 'power' are you talking about!?"

"The power of Persona."

Minato was extremely confused. "Persona? What do you mean?"

Igor smiled widely as he explained. "The power of Persona is... shall we say a facet of your personality, that happens to surface as you react to external stimuli."

"In other words," Elizabeth spoke again "A mask that protects you from many hardships."

"Quite right, Elizabeth. But your power, young man, is still fairly weak."

"How so, Igor?" Minato asked.

"When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength." Igor explained. "The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links: your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability."

"So let me get this straight, Igor." Minato calmly spoke. "You want me to use friendship, and the bonds forge with others, as a simple tool" he suddenly bolted from his seat "TO GET **MORE POWER FOR MY PERSONA ABILITY!?** " Minato was furious at the idea of it all. He was never much of a socializer, he'd admit, but he would never take advantage of something as important as a close bond with someone he trusted.

"I can see where you'd believe that." Igor responded, with that near unwavering smile of his. "And indeed, some guests have taken advantage of the idea, but this power is yours to do with whatever you wish. And as long as you abide by the contract" Igor summoned the contract again, this time flipping to the page with Minato's signature, underneath the phrase " _ **I chooseth this fate of mine own will**_."

"We will happily support you as best we can. But, I mustn't keep you any longer. Time marches on in your world. The next time we meet, will be of your own accord."

And thus Minato felt a force pull him away from the Velvet Room, as he slowly felt his conciousness drifting back to him. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Finally, you're awake!"

Minato had no time to observe his surrondings, as eyes had been drawn to where the voice had come from and found Yukari staring at him with a concerned smile on her face.

"Yukari?" he asked in a confused tone. "Where... where am I?"

"You're in the Tatsumi Memorial Hospital, just a short walk from the station! Thank goodness, you came to."

"I have to agree, Yukari." he tiredly responded as he slowly sat up. "Last night was insane."

Yukari looked at him with a surprised and curious stare. "Minato, you've been out for a week."

His eyes flew wide open. "Excuse me!?" Minato nearly shouted out of shock.

"Yes!" Yukari confirmed. "You just kept sleeping and sleeping, and the only thing the doctors said were that you were exhausted. Geez, how much sleep do you need? Do you know how worried I was!?"

"Considering I thought what happened was last night, no. Though, I do have to ask, what exactly happened... last week?"

Yukari took a deep breath. "Those monsters... we call them Shadows. And the power you used..."

That slight pause allowed Minato to finish her sentence. "It's called Persona, right?"

Yukari looked stunned. "Y-yeah! How did you know!?"

Minato figured he should think up a lie. He believed that mentioning the Velvet Room might break his contract, and though he was unsure what this contract was exactly for, he didn't want to risk it. "I... had a dream, and someone in the dream told me about Persona. Some... guy in a mask, talked about butterflies and "other me's", it was weird. Honestly, I just took a wild swing in the dark."

Yukari stared at him for a moment, before laughing at Minato's explanation, giving Minato a chance to laugh as well once he stopped and thought of how ridiculous it sounded. Yukari's jovial mood quickly turned dark again. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help... even though I was supposed to protect you, you ended up protecting me. I was too scared and weak, and I-"

Minato cut her off right there with a hug. "Yukari, it's not your fault. Trust me, I was scared too. And in all honesty-" Minato let her go so she could face him.

"I wouldn't have had it any other way."

If Yukari had been trying to hold tears in up to that point, she was physically unable to now. As the tears exploded down her face like raging waterfalls, Minato just sat there and watched, knowing she must've felt absolutely horrible and must've been blaming herself for what had happened. Minato just sat there, because she must've needed to let these feelings out, and he was more than willing to let her.

It took a few more minutes, but Yukari finally seemed to be calming down. As she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, she turned away from Minato to stare out the window.

"Not only did I want to thank you, I wanted to tell you... I'm sort of like you."

Minato was intrigued. He had already figured o ut Yukari had a Persona, so what could she mean? "I don't quite understand, Yukari."

Yukari sighed heavily, trying to find the right words. "My... my dad died when I was little."

Oh, that's what she meant.

"And my mom and I... we aren't exactly on good terms." Yukari turned to look at Minato, with tears forming back in her eyes. "You're all alone too, right?"

"Yukari..."

"To be honest, I already know about your past... but it didn't seem right that you don't know mine."

Whatever Yukari was trying to bring up, it seemed to be getting harder and harder. She was staring directly at the floor, she kept pausing, trying to keep her composure and attempting to find the right words, which seemed to elude her every other sentence. Minato simply sat in silence. He was angry, of course, that someone other than Gekkoukan administrators had access to his file, but this didn't seem to be the time or place. Minato knew how hard it was to even talk about the loss of his family, so his anger was drowned out by respect for Yukari, for telling him all this simply because she didn't think it was right she knew his past. Minato could feel the pain Yukari was going through. After all, he felt the same pain.

"It was... back in '99. There was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but no one knows what exactly happened. He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo group..."

Minato's intrigue peaked at that statement. Maybe Mitsuru knows for sure what happened that night. He'll have to question her later.

Yukari continued. "So I'm hoping that if I stick around long enough, I'll find out the truth." She lifted her head up and stared at the sky. "That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan High" she turned to face Minato now. "And that's why I was there when this happened to you."

Yukari smiled warmly, as it seemed she finally got everything out into the open. "Heh, and here I am telling you all this the moment you wake up. You know, I was thinking to myself while you were sleeping 'I've been hiding so many things from him. As soon as he wakes up, I'll tell him the truth.' So, thanks for listening." Yukari then hugged Minato. "I've been wanting to tell someone that story for a long time."

"I'm always here to listen, Yukari."

Yukari broke off the embrace and began walking towards the door. "Alright, I'd better get going. I'll let the others know you're awake. Oh, before I forget, Ikustsuki-san called your aunt and uncle to let them know you were in the hospital. They didn't seem to care too much."

Minato sighed sadly. "Yeah, that sounds like them all right."

"They did say though, that when you woke up you'd want your guitar and this thing they shipped." Yukari handed Minato a package, and pointed to his right to find his guitar set up neatly in the corner, just within reach.

"Thank you, Yukari."

Yukari giggled. "Don't thank me for your guitar. Actually, Junpei was wondering where you had been, and I told him you had been hit by a car and were in a coma. I told him I was bringing your guitar over, and he actually offered to carry it. He was very delicate with it."

Minato smiled. "Kid knows how to handle a guitar. But why'd you tell them I was hit by a car?"

"Well, we can't just tell everyone about what _**really**_ happened! They'd think we were crazy!" Minato understood what she meant. After all, he's had to lie about his family's demise for 10 years. It was so simple, he wondered why he'd even asked. "But yeah," Yukari continued, steering the conversation back to Junpei. "Apparently he used to play guitar but doesn't anymore. When he and Kenji showed up with me yesterday, Junpei was especially distraught."

"Well, I'll give him credit, he seems like a good guy deep down. First impressions are always a bitch." Minato then gave a puzzled look. "But, who's Kenji?"

"Oh, Kenji Tomochika. I heard you got into an argument with him the day... _that_ happened. He didn't seem to care too much that you were hurt, but he did say that it didn't deserve to happen."

"Oh, that kid. Honestly, he's the one who was arguing. I think he's jealous of the fact I'm in a dorm with you and Mitsuru-senpai. But I am glad to know he felt a little bad. Now, let's see this box."

Yukari handed Minato the package, and helped him open it up when it was clear Minato was having a bit of difficulty. "Damn aunt and uncle, always wrapping everything up too tight."

As Minato pulled the item out of the box, he grew a wide grin. "AW YEAH, SWEET! My PSP!"

Yukari laughed. "I didn't know you were such a gamer, Minato!"

"Are you kidding, I love games, almost as much as I love my music! This even has my favorite game on it, Dragon Quest IV! I'll save that for later." Minato grabbed his guitar and looked at Yukari. "You wanna hear a quick song before you leave?"

Yukari thought about it for a bit, before finally agreeing. As she sat down, Minato began strumming his guitar in an effort to warm up. Then, he began playing.

 _ **He said "Son, have you seen the world?**_  
 _ **Well what would you say**_  
 _ **If I said you could?**_  
 _ **Just carry this gun**_  
 _ **And you'll even get paid"**_  
 _ **I said "That sounds pretty good"**_  
 _ **Black leather boots**_  
 _ **Spit-shined so bright**_  
 _ **They cut off my hair**_  
 _ **But it looks alright**_  
 _ **We marched and we sang**_  
 _ **We all became friends**_  
 _ **As we all learned how to fight**_

 _ **A hero of war**_  
 _ **Yeah that's what I'll be**_  
 _ **And when I come home**_  
 _ **They'll be damn proud of me**_  
 _ **I'll carry this flag**_  
 _ **To the grave if I must**_  
 _ **Because it's a flag that I love**_  
 _ **And a flag that I trust**_

As Minato finished up the chorus, he once again noticed Yukari crying. _'Note to self, no more sad sounding songs in front of Yukari.'_ he thought to himself. As Yukari wiped the tears out of her eyes, she spoke. "That was beautiful, Minato. You're really talented."

"Thanks, Yukari. Something I picked up from my mom actually."

She smiled. "Well, I should probably get out of your hair now. I'll go let everyone know you've woken up." As she reached the door, she turned back to him. "Be a good patient, Minato!"

As Minato watched her walk away, he smiled at a sudden realization he had. He'll need to think on this though, so he just picked his guitar back up and played most of the day. Around 7:30 he got a call from Mitsuru, surprisingly, who stated he was able to leave the hospital tomorrow, but still had to go to school from the hospital.

"But what about my guitar and my PSP? I don't want to just leave them here, and now that I'm awake I'd prefer if nobody touched them."

Mitsuru was silent for a moment before responding. "I'll pull some strings and grant you special permission to carry them around, provided you don't use them during class."

"Absolutely. Thanks Mitsuru-senpai!"

"No problem, Arisato. Sleep well and we'll see you tomorrow. I'll have Takeba escort you to the school again tomorrow."

Minato then decided to get some sleep then and there, but it was fairly difficult with all the doctors and nurses coming in to check on him. By the time the doc had _finally_ told him they'd be leaving him alone, it was 4:30 in the morning. _'Great. Now I'll only get 2 hours of sleep.'_ he thought. He didn't care though, as the week long coma he had been in did nothing to help his exhaustion. As soon as he closed his eyes, he was out like a light. That lasted all of what felt like 5 seconds, as the next thing he heard was Yukari asking him to wake up. He checked the time. 5:45.

"Yukari, why in god's name did you wake me up this early? School doesn't start until 7:30." Minato tiredly asked.

"Well, I figured we could get something to eat and drink on the way over to school at Paulownia Mall. I figured hospital food must've been awful as your first food in a week, so I wanted to be nice!" Yukari smiled eagerly, almost like a little kid. "C'mon, sleepyhead, let's go!" She started pulling at Minato's arm, almost pulling him off the bed.

"Yukari, wait! I only have this gown on!" Minato spoke in a playfully tired tone. "Just give me a minute to get dressed."

"Ok, I'll be outside the door. Hurry up!"

As Minato quickly got dressed, he realized his uniform was even sloppier looking than it usually was. He figured he could easily get away with the excuse of being unconcious for a week, but decided to at least straighten up his jacket. He liked the jacket.

As Minato exited his hospital room, guitar strapped to his back, phone, MP3 player, and PSP in his pockets, Yukari had quickly shoved a bag, his bag, into his hands.

"Mitsuru-senpai asked me to bring your books for you, so I figured I'd just bring the whole bag."

Minato opened the bag to find all of his belongings neatly arranged so as to not take too much space up. He looked at Yukari with tired eyes, but a thankful smile. "Thanks, Yukari. You even brought my wallet."

"I figured it'd be nice to have some money for after school."

Minato was confused as they began to walk, stuffing his PSP in his bag and wallet in his pocket. "After school? I thought you brought it so I could get my own breakfast."

Without missing a beat, Yukari responded. "Oh no, I'm paying for this morning. It's the least I could do after saving my life last week. And I'm not taking no for an answer."

Minato had no words. How could he, after something like that? All he could stumble out of his lips was the word "T-thanks..."

"Don't mention it, now let's go!" Yukari happily exclaimed. Despite the energy the brunette seemed to have this early in the morning, she kindly walked at Minato's pace, seeing as he was having a bit of trouble adjusting to being awake after a week. As they borded the train to Paulownia Mall, Minato finally decided to ask what the plan was for this morning.

"Oh, we're just heading to Chagall Cafe to get some coffee and food, and then we'll just walk the rest of the way to Gekkoukan."

"I don't even like coffee though. Do they serve tea?"

Yukari giggled. "What are you, British?"

Minato quickly put on as best of a British accent as he could. "I'm Minato Arisato. The Doctor, the Queen, and all that. Pip-pip, cherrio."

That got both of them laughing. "Minato" Yukari said through the laughs. "You know all British people aren't like that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I did visit there for a few months once, y'know. Peaceful, really. I did pick up on an interesting phrase while I was there, too."

"Really? What's that?"

"Bang out of order."

Yukari's eyebrow cocked in confusion. "And that means...?"

"Hell if I know, I just thought it sounded cool. Maybe I'll give it my own little context one day."

"I don't know about that, Minato. It might mean something really offensive, and you could upset someone who knows what it means."

Minato shrugged. "Eh, I'm willing to take that risk."

The two soon arrived at Chagall Cafe, where they took a seat at a table situated in the middle of the resturant. Despite being fairly early in the morning, Minato was surprised at how full the place was. As a waitress came over to take their order, Minato looked at the menu. He quickly decided on a small cub of honey tea and an apple strudel, while Yukari simply chose to have a cup of something called "Pheremone Coffee" and a bagel. Minato simply had to know.

"Um, Yukari, what is 'Pheremone Coffee'? It sounds like an odd name."

"Well, supposedly, the coffee has some sort of effect that makes it feel like people are staring at you. I've personally never felt it, but the coffee is good."

Minato and Yukari sat in silence as they ate and drank their meals, Yukari paying, and hurrying off to Gekkoukan.

The day went by smoothly for Minato. His dozing off in class was excused by his teachers after being informed of his "accident" last week and having just woken up. Lunchtime was a good time for Minato, as Junpei and Kenji had walked up to him at his desk as he was fiddling with his guitar.

"S'up, dude?" Junpei greeted, with Kenji behind him giving a sheepish wave.

"Hey Junpei, Kenji." Minato greeted. "I heard from Yukari you guys came to visit me in the hospital. I especially want to thank you, Junpei, for handling my guitar very well."

Junpei grinned at the praise. "Hey, it was no big deal, dude! I'm just happy you're alright! According to Yuka-tan, you were out a whole week!"

"Yeah, I just woke up yesterday actually."

Kenji decided to speak up. "Wow, and you're already back in school. Damn, dude, you're amazing, you know that?"

Before Minato could respond, Kenji continued. "Look, Minato, I just... I want to apologize for how I acted last week. I was just jealous of your situation, but after Yukari confronted me on my attitude a few days ago after finding out you were in the hospital, I just felt really shitty about the whole thing. I mean, what kind of person acts indifferent towards someone being hurt like that!?"

"My aunt and uncle, for starters."

Kenji's face quickly grew into a mix of shock and horror. "Damn dude, you serious!?"

"As serious as being hit by a car." Minato smirked

Kenji and Junpei both looked at Minato in a mix of horror and confusion. Minato quickly spoke up. "Look, it happened to me, so I can joke about it like that. I know how scared everybody must've been, but I'm here, y'know?"

As the mood slowly, but surely calmed down, Junpei finally spoke again. "So Minato, how's about playing us a song before lunch is over? Yuka-tan said you can play and sing fairly well."

As Minato grabbed his guitar and got ready to play, Yukari had walked in with Akihiko and Mitsuru, and as she noticed Minato about to play, quickly called out to him. "Minato! Play that song you played yesterday!"

With a quick glance and nod in her direction, Minato began playing and singing.

 _ **He said "Son, have you seen the world?**_  
 _ **Well what would you say**_  
 _ **If I said you could?**_  
 _ **Just carry this gun**_  
 _ **And you'll even get paid"**_  
 _ **I said "That sounds pretty good"**_

 _ **Black leather boots**_  
 _ **Spit-shined so bright**_  
 _ **They cut off my hair**_  
 _ **But it looks alright**_  
 _ **We marched and we sang**_  
 _ **We all became friends**_  
 _ **As we all learned how to fight**_

 _ **A hero of war**_  
 _ **Yeah that's what I'll be**_  
 _ **And when I come home**_  
 _ **They'll be damn proud of me**_  
 _ **I'll carry this flag**_  
 _ **To the grave if I must**_  
 _ **Because it's a flag that I love**_  
 _ **And a flag that I trust**_

As Minato played the last chord of the chorus, he looked around and felt proud of the applause he was getting. "Do you want to hear the rest?"

Everybody confirmed that they did, and Minato obliged.

 _ **I kicked in the door**_  
 _ **I yelled my commands**_  
 _ **The children, they cried**_  
 _ **But I got my man**_  
 _ **We took him away**_  
 _ **A bag over his face**_  
 _ **From his family and his friends**_

 _ **They took off his clothes**_  
 _ **They pissed in his hands**_  
 _ **I told them to stop**_  
 _ **But then I joined in**_  
 _ **We beat him with guns**_  
 _ **And batons, not just once**_  
 _ **But again and again**_

 _ **A hero of war**_  
 _ **Yeah that's what I'll be**_  
 _ **And when I come home**_  
 _ **They'll be damn proud of me**_  
 _ **I'll carry this flag**_  
 _ **To the grave if I must**_  
 _ **Because it's a flag that I love**_  
 _ **And a flag that I trust**_

As Minato continued through the song, he noticed that the looks of admiration he'd gotten for his talent were still there, but also the beginnings of a look of horror on everyone's faces as they continued to hear the song. No one asked him to stop, though.

 _ **She walked through bullets and haze**_  
 _ **I asked her to stop**_  
 _ **I begged her to stay**_  
 _ **But she pressed on**_  
 _ **So I lifted my gun**_  
 _ **And I fired away**_

 _ **And the shells jumped through the smoke**_  
 _ **And into the sand**_  
 _ **That the blood now had soaked**_  
 _ **She collapsed**_  
 _ **With a flag in her hand**_  
 _ **A flag white as snow**_

 _ **A hero of war**_  
 _ **Is that what they see?**_  
 _ **Just medals and scars**_  
 _ **So damn proud of me**_  
 _ **And I brought home that flag**_  
 _ **Now it gathers dust**_  
 _ **But it's a flag that I love**_  
 _ **It's the only flag I trust**_

 _ **He said "Son, have you seen the world?**_  
 _ **Well what would you say**_  
 _ **If I said you could?"**_

As Minato finished, he noticed many people were crying at the implications of the song, Minato himself having a few tears in eyes. Others had looked away, and yet others were just staring at Minato. Some in shock, some in horror, some even in admiration. But whether they were crying, looking away, or what have you, the entire room burst again into applause. Junpei came up to Minato.

"Minato, what was that song? It was so messed up, but it was also just... a good song."

"It's called 'Hero of War'. It's by an American band called Rise Against."

As Junpei shook his hand and told him he'd see him later, Mitsuru walked up to Minato. "Arisato, I'd like to commend you on your performance just now. I must say, that song was beautifully tragic. It brought out emotions from myself and Akihiko we rarely show."

Minato smiled. "I'm glad you and Akihiko-senpai seemed to enjoy it. That is the purpose of the song, after all."

Mitsuru gave a warm chuckle and a small smile. "It looks like we have something else to discuss tonight.

"Hm?"

"Well, my and Akihiko's original purpose was to inform you that the Chairman had something of urgent business he wanted to discuss with you tonight." Mitsuru gave a playful smile. "I'll keep both subjects a secret. Just meet us back at the 4th floor tonight."

"Ok, I'll be there."

"Well, we best be off. Have a good rest of your day, Arisato, Takeba." With that, after getting a quick word with Akihiko, he and Mitsuru left. Minato, now with bounds of energy, at least compared to the beginning of the day, decided to actually listen to lessons for today. Unfortunately, they were nothing special.

As the final bell of the day rang, Minato got up to leave, but Junpei caught up to him.

"Hey dude, you wanna do something after school?"

"Can we make it quick? I kinda have a thing happening at the dorm tonight."

Junpei seemed disappointed. "Oh, well if you're busy-"

"I never said I wasn't. Just wondered if we make it quick."

Junpei grinned. "Well, I've gotta change some plans, but sure! Wanna grab a bite?"

Minato looked intensely at Junpei. "Junpei, the only realy food I've had since I've woken up was an apple strudel this morning. We both know hospital food doesn't count."

That got a laugh out of Junpei. "You got that right, Minato! Come on, you ever been to Wild Duck Burger?"

"Last time I was there was when I was a kid. How about Hagakure? My treat."

"Hell yeah, let's go!"

After a quick bite to eat of some great ramen, Minato had to say goodbye to a disappointed Junpei. However, Minato promised they'd both hang out for real together next week. Junpei decided to walk home with him, and Minato noticed he didn't seem to be in a hurry to get home. He decided not to pry, and so they just talked about music together, Minato surprising Junpei with his love of foreign music, and Junpei giving Minato some recommendations on more Japanese music.

As Minato said goodbye to Junpei for real, he walked through the door of the dorm, quickly signing in, and making his way up the stairs. Minato made a stop on the second floor to grab two cans of Mad Bull, one which he put in his small mini refrigirator. As he made his way to the 4th floor, he noticed Yukari sitting by two large doors, seemingly waiting for him.

"Hey, Yukari." Minato greeted the brunette. "Hope I didn't keep everyone waiting too long."

"Oh, Minato!" Yukari responded. "No, not at all! In fact, Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai just walked in a minute ago."

"Well, we should probably get in there then, hm?"

Yukari and Minato made their way through the doors. Minato noticed how nice and spacious the room seemed to be, with even what seemed to be a control panel for a camera system, Minato guessed. He and Yukari took a seat opposite each other, where Ikutsuki began to speak.

"Well, young man. I'm glad to see you're recovering and seem to be doing well today!" Minato studied Ikutsuki's face and came to the conclusion there was something suspicious about his words: how they sounded forced with too much glee, and how there seemed to be little emotion on his face as he spoke. He decided to see where this would go, however, and just listened. "I needed to talk to you today, so I called this meeting."

"If you needed to talk to me, Ikutsuki-san, why would you call everyone else here too?"

Ikutsuki seemed unfazed by this remark, and simply responded. "Because, not only does this affect everyone in this dorm, but Mitsuru had something else she wished to discuss with you afterwards."

"Hm... well let's continue, Ikutsuki-san."

"Gladly. Now, let's start with this: what would you say if I said there were more than 24 hours in a day?"

"I'd say you're full of shit, and call you insane-"

Ikutsuki smiled. "Well, that language may be a little too much, but-"

"You didn't let me finish, Ikutsuki-san."

Everyone seemed surprised at Minato's remark, most especially Yukari. Ikutsuki recovered. "Well then, please continue."

"I'd say you're full of shit, and call you insane... if I hadn't already experienced it."

While there was a fair bit of surprise in the air originally, it all but disappeared as Minato finished. Mitsuru spoke up. "Well yes, after all, you did arrive during the fabled '25th hour'."

Minato shook his head. "I may have experienced it that night, yes, but I've actually been familiar with it for awhile."

Intrigue appeared on both Ikutsuki's and Mitsuru's face, while everyone else just listened intently to Minato's words. "Well, how long have you been experiencing it?"

Minato took a deep breath. This was hard for him to discuss.

"I've been familiar with it..." Minato paused, attempting to compose himself. He knew the truth needed to come out, but it was so hard to say.

"How long have you been aware of it, Minato?"

"I've known of it since December 31st, 1999. The night my family was killed."

The silence in that room was deafening. Nobody was expecting the words that Minato Arisato had just uttered. But yet, here he is, explaining how ever since he was 7 years old, he had been experiencing this wretched 25th hour, how he had discovered it's existence because of his family's death. No one had any words. They had read his file, yes, and discovered his family had been killed in a car accident on that date, but to live with the truth for nearly 10 years... nobody could speak. Yukari had her hand over her mouth, eyes wide open in pure horror, while Mitsuru and Ikutsuki both held their heads down, likely out of condolence, and Akihiko just stared at Minato with a look that seemed to scream "Are you shitting me?" Minato decided to break the silence.

"So what's this all about?"

As the words left Minato's mouth, they seemed to grasp everyone elses attention, bringing everyone back to the here and now.

Mitsuru walked over to the briefcase, explaining many things along the way, as she attempted to regain her composure. "The 25th hour you've been experiencing, Arisato, is called the Dark Hour. It's an hour hidden between midnight and 12:01 AM."

Ikutsuki spoke up. "It'll happen tonight, and every night to come."

Akihiko regained his cool enough to speak up. "Normal people don't realize it, since they're all in their coffins for the duration of the Dark Hour. But that's not what makes it so interesting."

"Oh? Do tell, then."

Excitement filled his eyes. "Those things, the Shadows. They only appear in the Dark Hour, and they attack anyone not in their coffins."

Ikutsuki chuckled at Akihiko's excitement. "There are however, a select few who can function during the Dark Hour."

Akihiko continued, with pride in his voice. "Even fewer have the power we have. Only we Persona users can defeat the Shadows. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?"

If looks could kill, the glares Minato and Mitsuru gave Akihiko would have instantly obliterated him.

"Akihiko, why are you always like that!?" Mitsuru yelled, losing all calm and cool she had gained back in the past few minutes. "You just got hurt the other day!"

"Now, now Mitsuru." Ikutsuki jumped in. "He does his job well." Ikutsuki turned his gaze back to Minato. "Long story short, we're the Specialized Extracuricular Execution Squad: S.E.E.S. for short. On paper, we're a simple school club for gifted or troubled students, but in reality we're a group dedicated to defeating the Shadows and ending the Dark Hour once and for all. Mitsuru is the leader, and I'm the club advisor."

"I'm in."

That caught every other person in that room not named Minato Arisato off guard.

"I-I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me. I'm in."

Yukari looked at Minato with a panicked expression on her face. "Minato, don't just blindly agree to this! Give it some thought, do you even know what you just agreed to!?"

"Yeah." he calmly explained, with a blank expression on his face." I agreed to help rid the world of this accursed Dark Hour, so that no one else will have to suffer through what I did." His face became grim, anger overtaking his normally calm voice." This Dark Hour killed my family, and I swear on their graves I will use all my power to **END IT**!" He finished by slamming his fist into the table, shocking everyone.

As the emotions overtook Minato, he simply stormed out of the room and down to the first floor before he could do any more harm. Yukari attempted to follow him, but Akihiko placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Let him do what he's got to do. I'll go check on him in half an hour."

Yukari stared at her senpai, before staring at the door, and finally hesitantly nodding.

Minato, meanwhile, stormed down the stairs into the reception area, and took a seat on one of the chairs. Anger flooded through his veins. He finally knew the truth once and for all, for certain. He finally knew that he wasn't crazy, as his aunt and uncle claimed. He finally knew what he had to do. And as the realization set in, anger gave way to tears, as he simply wondered why this had to happen, and tears gave way to fear, wondering if his goal was even possible? He thought about what happened the week before: how he had been unable to move as he quailed in fright. Could he overcome that? Of course he could, he thought. And with that thought, the fear gave way to numbness, and in that numbness, Minato just sat, staring into space. Not even a thought came to him. And suddenly, he noticed another presence. He turned to his right to find Akihiko sitting on the couch, just reading something Minato couldn't make out in his current state.

"How long have you been there?"

"For about an hour." Akihiko said without even looking up.

"Why?"

"I came to check on you, but you were just staring off into space. I didn't want to disturb you from what you may have been thinking."

Minato sat in silence for another few minutes, before getting up from his seat.

"Going to bed?"

"No... I'm going back to the 4th floor."

"Well I'll come with you then."

Minato stood there, silent for a few moments, with Akihiko standing beside him. Suddenly, Minato extended his hand.

"Thanks. For staying here with me."

Akihiko wasted no time in grabbing it. "It's what a true friend does."

Minato smiled.

 _ **CRASH**_

Suddenly, time froze, and a card appeared in front of a shocked Minato, before spinning around to reveal it's face. A voice rang out loudly in Minato's head, causing a shooting headache.

 _ **"Thou hast established a new bond.**_

 _ **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Star Arcana."**_

And just like that the card vanished and a warm feeling flowed through Minato's body as time resumed.

"Hey, are you ok?" Akihiko sounded slightly concerned, noticing the small look of pain on Minato's face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm ok. Just tired and a little dizzy from all the..."

"All the stress?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let's get back to the 4th floor quickly then. Y'know, Mitsuru never did share her announcement with you. She thought you'd find it interesting.

"Can't wait to hear it." Minato gave a small smile.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: LONG CHAPTER IS LONG HOLY FUCK! Man, I really had an idea to cut this chapter off as Minato and Yukari had made their way to Gekkoukan, but I was just on a roll and didn't want to stop. Quite honestly, though this chapter is long, I'm quite proud of it. Not quite sure why, maybe it's because I never thought I could do a chapter this long. This won't be a regular occurence (I'm personally a fan of the length of the first and fourth chapters.) And yes, I did use the song "Hero of War" twice in this chapter: It's a personal favorite of mine, and there will be plenty more instances where Minato plays and sings. Well, more like sings, because you'll have to imagine him playing the guitar since I can't quite describe that. Or any instrument, really. Guitar isn't the only instrument Minato can play, either! Can you guess the other one? And can you guess what Mitsuru's announcement will be for Minato? And how about that Social Link, huh!? Bet you never saw that coming, did ya? Normally, the Fool is the first Social Link you encounter, so I decided to change it up. Originally, I was going to replace Hidetoshi with Akihiko for the Emperor Social Link, and replace Mamarou with an original character, but I decided to stick to Portable canon and do something better for Mamarou. What is it? Well, I am replacing Mamarou, that much is certain, but you'll find out the rest at the summer tournament. Why am I telling you guys all this? This should be secret information, but fuck it. I've already gone on so long, and here's another long A/N**_

 _ **One last thing, did any of you catch the two references to other fanfics I left in this chapter? Take your guesses to all the questions above in your review, and I'll respond to your answers in the beginning of the next chapter. I'm also changing it up next chapter, as part of an experiment to see what I want to do going forward. See ya next time, peoples!**_


	6. Chapter 6: The Fool's Beginning

_**Let's answer another review!**_

 _ **IzanagiOmega**_ _ **: I've always liked the idea of a story changing up the Social Links. For a good example, just look at A Fool Named Fortune. But here's the kicker: I'm not just simply following the P3P route with replacements! I'll be replacing some Social Links with other characters, some even completely original! The original characters won't be very many, but they'll mainly be for characters whose original Links I wasn't too fond of and/or couldn't adequatlely write down or replace. Trust me, you will NOT see some of these Social Link choices coming.**_

 **Chapter 6: The Fool's Beginning**

I had no idea what to think about what had just transpired. I thought back to what Igor had said.

 _The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links: your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability._

Was that a "Social Link" then? And why is Akihiko's the "Star Arcana"? I had too many questions that couldn't be answered right now. I made a mental note to ask Igor the next time we had met.

"So, you're an MMA enthusiast, I take it?"

Akihiko's voice had drawn me back to reality, and I had realized we were on our way back to the 4th floor, because Mitsuru had something to tell me.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I take it your a boxing enthusiast then."

He grinned. "Yeah, I've been boxing for a long time. Sometimes it's just... theraputic, y'know?"

"You destress yourself by punching people in the face?" I said with a smile on my face. _Who am I to judge, after all? He punches people, I lock them in armbars._

He laughed "That sounds about right, actually." He slowed down as we reached the top of the staircase. "I'd tell you more, but we don't want to keep Mitsuru waiting any longer." His face darkened as his tone became a serious one with just a dash of fear. "Trust me."

 _Jeez, what could Mitsuru do that could have Akihiko that shaken up?_

With a nod of my head, we walked back into the meeting room. Ikutsuki seemed to pay no attention to our precense, merely laughing to himself while Mitsuru and Yukari had painful expressions on their faces.

I had a feeling I had known what had gone on. But I just _**HAD**_ to be sure. "What happened here?"

Yukari looked up, and the look on her face told the entire story. A look of pure agony, and one that was obviously screaming " _ **Please save me!**_ "

"I've just been telling the girls some jokes, to lighten the mood." Ikutsuki smiled in that creepy Ikutsuki way. _I swear this guy is shady as fuck_.

"Here's one for you, Minato: Why is 'archeologist' a terrible career choice?"

I sighed heavily. "I don't know, Ikutsuki-san, why?"

His smile grew wider, and that terrified me. "Because an archeologist's career always lies in ruins!"

...

...

...

 _Please tell me I did not just hear that I think my brain exploded._

I sighed again. "Ikutsuki-san, what did we do to deserve this kind of punishment?"

Ikutsuki's eyes lit up and I immediately realized what I had said. "WaitwaitwaitIdidn'tmeanthatIDIDN'TMEAN-"

"Well, Minato, I guess I'll have to think of some really _**PUN**_ ishing puns for our next meeting! I'll see you guys next week!" He stood up and walked out of the meeting room, laughing to himself all the while. The atmosphere in the room was depressing and tense. I sat down, with a sigh. I should really be more careful with my words.

"So, Mitsuru-senpai, what's this sur- **OW**!" _Was that a shoe!?"_

"Takeba, while I understand your frustration at what just occured, please refrain from hitting Arisato with your other shoe, at least until _**after**_ the meeting."

 _Yukari just threw a shoe at me, and Mitsuru doesn't even care._ My eyes glanced over to Akihiko, who seemed to be trying so hard not to laugh. _Laugh and I'll break your other arm._

"Arisato," Mitsuru began, as everybody else seemed to calm themselves. "I've called you here to share with you something interesting."

 _Go on._ "And that would be...?"

"Well, your showcase of your talent earlier today reminded me: Next week is an 'Open Mic Night' at Club Escapade, and I was curious as to if you wanted to participate."

 _Wait, what?_ My eyes went wide at the thought. "Are you serious, Mitsuru-senpai!?"

"I can have a band prepared for you and everything, if you wish."

I was in shock. The fact that I was being asked if I wanted to perform at the hottest club in Iwatodai was astounding! Who wouldn't say yes!?

"But wait, I thought you had to be 18 to get into Escapade."

 _DAMN IT YUKARI, DON'T RUIN THIS FOR ME!_

"I've talked to the owner, and he's willing to let anyone over 16 come in and perform for 'Open Mic Night'."

I made the girliest squee noise you'll ever hear outside of an anime and I don't even care!

Mitsuru seemed to enjoy my geek out moment. "I take it that's a yes then, Arisato?" she chuckled.

"ABSOLUTELY! Oh man, I'll have to think of a song, and attire, and-and I've got to meet up with this band and-"

"Slow down, Minato!" Yukari somewhat screamed in my ear. "Take it easy, your not a kid anymore!"

 _Like your one to talk._

"You will need to think of a stage name though." Akihiko said. "Unless you want all those fangirls."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

I hated fangirls.

"Ok, new plan! We think of a stage name now! Shouldn't take too long, right?"

And thus the brainstorming began. It wasn't really a storm, more like a drizzle though.

"How about something cool, like... like 'Orpheus Mochizuki'?"

"Yukari, I'm pretty sure Mochizuki isn't even a legitimate Japanese last name." I deadpanned. "Besides, I don't know about using my Persona as a name."

"What about something simple, like 'The Hurricane'?"

"Akihiko, this isn't a boxing match, it's a performance." Mitsuru chuckled.

"Besides, Akihiko-senpai, if I was going to have a boxing nickname, it would be something kickass, like 'The Incarcerator', or 'The Seeker of Truth'!"

"Hmm 'Seeker of Truth'... how does the name 'Makoto Yuki' sound to you, Arisato?"

...

 _That..._

 _sounds..._

"Perfect!" I excitedly yelled out. "With a name like that, not only does it sound sleak and mysterious, but no one will be able to recognize me!"

"Minato" Yukari cautiously spoke up. "You do realize you're, like, the only blue haired teenager in Iwatodai, right?"

...

 _NOOOOOOOOOOO!_

Possibly hearing my silent screams, Akihiko proposed a solution. "Why don't you just wear a hat or a hood?"

"And mess up my beautiful hair!? Are you insane!?"

Mitsuru seemed ready to explode from holding in her laughter. "How about..." she said in between giggles. "We have the lights turned down for your performance, Arisato?"

"Great idea, senpai! I just have to think of a song that fits that kind of mood..."

Yukari spoke up. "How about 'Memories of You'?"

"I don't think I've heard that song before, who sings it?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yukari, that song is sung by a woman, I can't sing that."

"But it's a great song!"

"Takeba, who sings that song?"

"It's performed by Yumi Kawamura, senpai."

"I don't think I've heard of that artist before..."

"She's not very well known, from what I'm aware of." I responded.

Why don't you sing that song by Nightmare?" Akihiko interjected. "What was it called, 'The World'?"

"I didn't know you watched anime, Akihiko-senpai." Yukari coyly remarked.

"What? No I don't. I used to when I was a kid, though."

"Oh come on, I still watch Dragon Ball Z, senpai."

Akihiko seemed confused. "What's anime got to do with it anyways?"

"Don't you know, senpai?" Yukari asked with slight disbelief in her voice.

"Know what?"

"That song is the opening to the anime 'Death Note'." I answered.

"Death Note?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yeah, it was really popular for a while, especially in Kyoto." I said. "I remember walking around and everybody during middle school had their own Death Note."

Yukari grew a small, fond smile. "All the girls back then would argue over who they liked more, L or Light."

"Well whose side were you on, Yukari?" I asked with a sly smile on my face.

"Well, obviously I was on L's side."

"Really now?"

"Yeah, he was trying to stop Kira and do the right thing."

"Well see, that's where I disagree with you."

"You're telling me you're a supporter of Light?" she asked with an incredulous tone.

"Well, I mean you gotta admit that he had a good idea going there."

"He KILLED people! Sometimes innocent people!"

"I'm not saying I agree with his methods, I'm saying his idea: 'A perfect world free from crime and evil' sounds like a great idea. He just got too big of an ego with the Death Note."

As me and Yukari argued back and forth over Death Note, I noticed out of the corner of my eye the senpai just looking at each other, lost in disbelief. I didn't blame them. I could get pretty heated over the dumbest of things. Don't even bring up DBZ without being ready for a lenghty back and forth.

"Well, since we're never going to agree, let's just agree to disagree." I said.

"Gladly." Yukari huffed. _Was she honestly mad at a simple opinion?_

I stood up and turned towards Mitsuru. "Mitsuru-senpai, I want to thank you for such a wonderful oppertunity. I won't let you down, against the Shadows or in the Open Mic Night."

She responded with a simple "Good luck, Arisato. Now get some rest."

I wished everyone a good night, and headed off to bed a happy boy. I didn't realize it, but just a few days later that happiness would become extremely rare.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: So this is what I meant! Not only is this a first person chapter, but it's also filler! YAAAAY! It's a simple experiment to give some more life to the story of Persona 3: You don't really see much of the S.E.E.S. interactions outside Tarturus outside of Social Links, so I figured "Minato and company already seem to get along, why not have them do stuff together?" This won't be a regular occurence, and of course in main chapters I'll still throw in some flavor interactions, but I figured why not pull a double experiment? See ya next time, peoples, with more main story! :D**_

 _ **(And yes, all "filler" chapters will be titled "The Fool's *insert word here*".)**_


	7. Chapter 7: Death is a Magician

_**Let's answer some reviews!**_

 _ **IzanagiOmega**_ _ **: I'm glad you think so! I'm currently working through some more ideas in my head for the entire story, so I hope when we get there you enjoy it!**_

 _ **Nightlyy**_ _ **: 1) As I told Dad of War, I can see how Minato being pals with S.E.E.S. pretty quickly can be offputting. Obviously once I read your review and read the last chapters over, I realized I was not a fan of making Mitsuru really friendly. I mean, a little bit friendly, I could see, but you're absolutely right: she's the Ice Queen, and smiling warmly and holding back laughs and giggles so early on is absolutely not in character, and I apologize. I'll work on that in these next chapters and try to find a reason for Mitsuru to not be so social or friendly with Minato. Any ideas would be appreciated, but I've got a couple in mind already.**_

 _ **2) In terms of typos and shit, I try my best, but if something slips in after the fact, I let it go. I'm currently using Wordpad to write, and it doesn't have a spellcheck feature. I don't have Word, so that's a bit of difficulty there. I hope I'll get better as I write as well.**_

 _ **3) Minato losing his cool over Social Links was actually an idea I got from A Fool Named Fortune and it's sequel Persona 4: Golden Moon, as well as Persona 3 Remix. Roy seemed apprehensive about using Social Links as a means to gain more power, while Rusei flat out refused the power of Social Links. I liked that aspect of these two, because honestly I don't like how the games basically give you no chance to actively question the Social Link aspect, instead just making you go along like it's completely normal. With Persona 3 Remix however, that Minato actively admits to the reader that he's using the Social Links for power and nothing more, and that's something I wasn't cool with, so I want Minato to actually question his morality with the Social Links.**_

 _ **4) I'll still be switching to first person chapters, but no longer in "filler", rather only during extremely big moments where I don't think my third person writing could do it justice (examples being the Hierophant/Lovers battle, 10/4, 11/4, the summer tournament, and the final battle are just the ideas I have right now), but we will get first person thoughts of Minato every now and then.**_

 _ **5) Once again, Minato being an amateur Mixed Martial Artist comes from A Fool Named Fortune (if you guys haven't read that yet, go do that now!) I actually never had Minato throw on some gloves, but I might for this story (I preferred one handed swords: his ultimate weapon WILL be a certain one hander, if you can guess), but no, Minato's not UFC material. And remember, this is Japan, just a few years after PRIDE, so he's probably still a big fan of them. With the Dark Hour and Shadows, he'd probably be UFC champ material, but if it was a completely fair fight, I'd have to say, if I was going to rate him with a pro record (just for example), he'd be the kind of guy that would have a 12-5 record. Pretty good, but not unbeatable. His offensive submission skills are really slick, and just for you I'll have Minato lock a Gigas in a heel hook or something, while his submission defense is lacking, which is why he lost the tournament, but his real power is in his kickboxing. You won't see who Minato lost to in that amateur England tournament coming, but they're coming back for the summer tournament. And it will be glorious. I'm actually going to make up an excuse that the gang has the option of not using their Persona's power, especially outside the Dark Hour, just to have the excuse of making that a completely fair fight. :D And that Minato vs Akihiko spar? Might not be as one sided as you think. Who said it would even be a spar? *chuckles maniacally* Thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing!**_

 **Chapter 7: Death Is A Magician**

After that excellent bit of news from Mitsuru drowned out the somber mood set earlier in the night, Minato decided to head off to his room. He was obviously unable to sleep, so he decided to fire up his PS2 and play some Guilty Gear X. Minato loved video games, the only problem was that he was, admittedly terrible at most of them, fighting games being no exception. But Minato believed that despite his awful skill, the art style and music was absolutely worth continuing to play. As he continuously got his ass kicked by Testament, the Dark Hour hit, shutting off his PS2 for the next hour. Minato sighed.

 _I had him that time, dammit._

As he sat in silence, with nothing but the sickening, yet oddly calming green sky, his thoughts eventually turned towards the "Open Mic Night" at Escapade next week, and then towards Mitsuru.

 _I had heard rumors of her ice cold demeanor... that's not what I saw tonight. Wonder why?_

"Hi, how are you?" a voice suddenly rang out.

Minato's eyes jumped towards the edge of his bed. He found the young boy he saw on his arrival, casually sitting on his bed, staring at him with a quizzical expression on his face.

"How did you get in here?"

The boy seemed hurt at the question. "I'm always with you..." he said with sadness in his voice.

Minato felt bad. He could never ignore a child who was upset, though he could never understand why either. He knew this boy was a hallucination, but there was something about this child that felt strangely... familar.

"Sorry about that, then." Minato apologized sincerely.

The boy's eyes lit up, almost like if you were to meet your favorite celebrity. With childlike joy in his eyes, he continued to speak.

"I've come to tell you something important."

"Oh?" Minato's eyebrows cocked.

"Yes, soon, The End will come."

Minato's eyes widened, just a bit. _After all the shit I've been through these past few days, should I really be surprised?_

"I'm afraid I don't know much more than that." The boy seemed disappointed.

"The fact that you know that much is enough for me, pal." Minato reassured. _Sure, knowing the world's gonna end soon is a bummer, but at least he let me know._

The boy smiled softly. "Well, I must be going now. Remember: I'm always with you."

"I'd like to talk to you again sometime, kid."

The boy stopped, before nodding and then disappearing into the shadows.

 _Hm, that kid is weird. Nice company though._

 ***CRASH***

 _AHH, FUCK!_

 **"Thou art I."**

 _Oh, this shit again._

 **"And I am thou."**

 _Do you have to give me a headache everytime!?_

 **"Thou hast established a new bond."**

 _Do you have to speak in riddles?_

 **"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Death Arcana."**

 _..._

 _That doesn't sound good._

* * *

The next day was fairly uneventful, though Minato was made aware of the fact that the day after tomorrow, sports clubs would be taking tryouts for members. Minato already decided he'd either join the amateur MMA club or the amateur boxing club. None of the other clubs seemed interesting enough in his opinion.

Minato began packing up to leave, when he was stopped by a familar face.

"'Sup dude?"

"Hey, Junpei." Minato greeted. "Not much, what's up with you?"

"You free today, Minato?" Junpei asked. "Wanna hit up Wild Duck Burger?"

 _I did promise him I'd hang out with him._ "Yeah man, sure."

And so Junpei and Minato made their way to Wild Duck Burger, each ordering a simple cheeseburger and small fry. Junpei decided to strike up a conversation.

"So man, the rumors about you and Yuka-tan... are they true?"

Minato sighed. _Of course he'd ask that._ "What rumors exactly?"

Junpei smirked. "Well, the student message boards say that you and her are hooked up. She did visit you in the hospital every day, you know."

Minato's eyes widened. "No, I didn't. I was unconcious."

Junpei began chuckling. "Yeah man, you should've seen it! Every day, as soon as school was over, she'd rush out and go to the hospital, without fail!" His chuckles soon became uproarious laughs, while Minato just shrank in his seat.

Junpei noticed the discomfort Minato was showing and slowly stopped laughing. "Hey man, don't worry about it. No one believes in rumors anyways."

"You clearly do..."

Junpei frowned. "Nah, dude, I'm just messing with you. Yuka-tan's my friend, and I know she wouldn't get into a relationship this fast with somebody she just met."

"You and Yukari are friends?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but yeah. She really helped me out when I transferred, and I sorta developed a little crush on her." Junpei sheepishly smiled. "She denied me of course, but we've been good friends since." His face suddenly became serious. "I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, y'know? If these rumors really bother you guys, I can go after them for you, man. It's what real bros do for each other." Junpei extended his fist. "We're bros, right?" Minato calmly returned the gesture.

"Absolutely, bro."

 ***CRASH***

 _AGAIN!?_

 **"Thou art I.**

 **And I am thou."**

 _Blah blah blah new bond blah._

 **"Thou hast established a new bond.**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana."**

 _How many times is this gonna happen?_

As time returned to normal, Junpei either didn't see the minor annoyance on Minato's face, or didn't care, as he spoke up.

"Dude, listen to this! But you gotta promise not to tell Yuka-tan, alright?"

"I promise."

* * *

With Junpei's secret firmly tucked behind his lips, Minato headed back to the dorm after recieving a text from Yukari.

 _Senpai is calling a meeting tonight. Get back here ASAP._

Minato walked through the door, where he found Akihiko and Yukari waiting for him.

"Alright senpai, he's here now. So what's this meeting about?"

"Hold on just a minute, Yukari." Akihiko responded.

 ***KNOCK KNOCK***

As a smile stealthfully creeped up on Minato's face, Akihiko turned towards the door, opening it, revealing a huge suitcase standing there, with two smaller ones beside it.

"There's someone I want you to meet. Come on in."

"Hold your horses." The person grunted out. "This is freakin' heavy."

Yukari slowly grew an expression of realization.

"Is that...?"

And who should step from behind the suitcase but one Junpei Iori.

"JUNPEI!?" Yukari screamed out, while Junpei's trademark smile grew even larger.

"Minato, Yukari, this is Junpei Iori from class 2-F. He'll be staying here from now on."

As Minato and Junpei shared a knowing smile, Yukari simply stammered in shock. "HE'S STAYING HERE!?" Suddenly, horror grew on her face. "Wait, don't tell me-"

"He has the Potential." Akihiko confirmed.

"He found me crying in the corner of a convience store surronded by a bunch of coffins."

 _And you're bragging about that why?_

"I don't remember much," he continued "but damn was I happy to hear about you guys. I was honestly pretty scared of being the only one, so I bet you're pretty stoked I'm joining up." He walked over to Yukari. "Right, Yuka-tan?"

Yukari could only stare in continuous shock.

"She looks happy to see you, Junpei." Minato teased. "Well I for one am very excited to hear this news." He extended a hand towards his friend. "Welcome to the team, bro."

Junpei eagerly accepted. "Thanks for having me! Let's kick some ass together!"

Akihiko decided that very moment would be perfect to remind the three why they were there, with a quick clearing of his throat, and a simple "Let's go."

A quick climb up the stairs, and the group of four had arrived at the Command Room, as Akihiko had called it. Yukari slowly took her seat in a chair, while Minato and Junpei sat next to each other on one of the couches.

"Alright Mitsuru," Akihiko turned to the redhead "they're here. Where's the chairman?"

"He said he's running a few minutes late, so he should be here right about-"

"Now." Ikutsuki said as he walked in, surprising everyone in the room. He chuckled to himself at the situation, then continued. "I have a very important announcement to make, but first- Junpei Iori."

"Y-yes sir?" Junpei stood up.

"I'd like to formally welcome you to S.E.E.S. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki, and I'm the club advisor, while Mitsuru is the leader." He motioned to Mitsuru as he spoke.

Junpei, a little nervous after being put on the spot like that, simply responded with "Thank you, Ikutsuki-san."

"Now then, back to business." He spoke with a serious tone. "Originally, it was just Akihiko and Mitsuru that made up the team, but recently" he said with a knowing smirk "that number has jumped to 5. So..." he paused for dramatic effect, which seemed to be working on Junpei and Yukari, while Minato just sat and watched with slight intrest.

"Starting tomorrow night, I'd like to commence the exploration of Tarturus."

While Junpei and Yukari simply sat confused, Minato's eyes had widened.

 _Tarturus!? What the fuck is Tarturus doing in Japan!?_

"'Tarturus'? What's that, some kind of toothpaste?" Junpei asked. Akihiko chuckled, and Yukari just sighed.

"You haven't seen it, Junpei?"

"I'm not too surprised." Ikutsuki began. "After all, Tarturus is only avaliable during the Dark Hour.

"You're sending us to Tarturus..." Minato spoke up.

"Hm? Is there a problem?"

"Minato, dude, you alright? You look pissed."

"You guys know what Tarturus is, right?"

"Apparently it's not a toothpaste. What's so bad about Tarturus, Minato?"

 _These fools. These absolute fools. Did no one pay attention during Greek Mythology!?"_

Minato stood and sighed. "Ikutsuki-san, you're sending us to Tarturus."

"Yes, I've made that abundantly clear, Arisato."

"And, pray tell, what is this 'Tarturus' you're speaking of tonight?"

Mitsuru decided to take control of the conversation. "Tarturus is a giant labyrinth-like tower that appears only during the Dark Hour."

"You can think of it as the Shadow's nest." Akihiko said.

Junpei was getting excited at the idea. "Ooh, their nest, huh? Heh, that'll be fun as hell!"

"I don't know if we're ready." Yukari quietly said, no one hearing her concerns.

"What is your concern, Arisato?"

 _Whoever named this tower, they knew. They fucking knew..._

"Nothing..." Minato solemnly responded. "I was just concerned with the name."

"What's so bad about the name, dude?" Junpei questioned. "Tarturus sounds like an awesome name."

"It's the Greek version of Hell. Tomorrow night, Junpei, we're stepping into Hell."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Cliffhanger! So, Minato's not super knowledgeable on his Greek mythology (mainly because I've forgotten most of the stuff I was taught in middle school history. Shame, that was the last time I really enjoyed learning in school), but he knows of Tarturus. And he's not happy about the name. I've decided to actually start incorperating Minato's thoughts into the story, mainly because I felt conversation scenese would be boring without the extra fluff. And hey, he likes video games, he's just terrible at most of them! Can you see Junpei vs Minato in Smash Bros? Next chapter, we start the Chariot Link (originally was going to include that in this and call this chapter "Death is a Magician riding a Chariot" but decided to wait.) We'll also be going to Tarturus next time, which should be fun! See ya next time, peoples!**_


	8. Chapter 8: The Tower of Demise

**Chapter 8: The Tower of Demise**

"What are you talking about, Minato?" Junpei asked, slightly concerned.

"Tarturus is the Greek name for Hell... we're going to Hell..."

"B-but I thought that was Hades!"

"Hades is just the person in charge, Junpei."

 _I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I never imagined this..._

"Relax, Arisato."

 _Fuck off Ikutsuki._

"Minato, you're being paranoid..." Yukari pointed out in a concerned tone.

"HOW AM I THE ONLY ONE NOT OKAY WITH THIS!?"

The room fell into a deafening silence. Minato, with fury in his eyes, stared a hole into every one of the other S.E.E.S. members, most especially Ikutsuki, silently begging for an answer. None came.

"I'm the only one showing any sort of concern or questioning." Minato began speaking. "I'm the only one who seems to be afraid of the mission we've agreed to. And I'm the only one here terrified of the fact that tomorrow night WE MARCH INTO THE MOUTH OF HELL! Yukari's over there just silent and you" he pointed at Junpei "just have this look on your face that screams-"

Minato felt the powerful force of a fist connecting with his jaw. He fell to the floor and looked up to find Junpei standing over him.

"IORI!" Mitsuru yelled, but Junpei ignored her.

"You think you're the only one scared here, Minato!?" he yelled with fire in his eyes. "You think the rest of us think this is some sort of game!? After what I've been told by the senpai and Ikutsuki-san, and from what you just freaked out over, I'm fucking terrified too! Hell, just look at Yuka-tan over there!"

Minato drew his eyes towards Yukari and found her in a state of panic and shock. He couldn't help but think back to that night.

 _"Don't worry Minato." She said hesitantly. "I... I can do this. This is my power! I'll... I'll protect you!"_

 _Yukari closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger._

 _But nothing happened._

 _Yukari had looked horrified and confused._

 _..._

 _She was scared that night too... I was too scared to even notice..._

His eyes were forcefully drawn back to Junpei as he was pulled up to his feet and held against the wall.

"We're all scared, dude. But we've gotta do what we've gotta do. We've been given this power for a reason, and I'll be damned if I'll let it go to waste because you're too scared to do something about it!"

Minato's blood was boiling, he was getting angrier and angrier each second which seemed to be blocking out Junpei's words as he continued to speak, but something stopped him from acting. He thought about what Junpei had said.

 _Scared? You didn't look too scared to me._

 _But... I hear it in his voice..._

 _He's terrified._

"-So if you wanna get your head out of your ass and face your fears, I'll be waiting at Tarturus tomorrow night." Junpei shoved Minato away and stormed off.

"Junpei, wait!" Yukari rushed after him.

Ikutsuki simply stared at Minato, while Akihiko shook his head, disappointed in the entire situation. Mintsuru however, gave Minato a death glare that rivaled the death glare she gave Akihiko the other day. Minato just put his head in his hands and wondered where he went wrong.

 ***SMASH***

Suddenly, time froze, and the Magician Arcana card appeared in front of Minato's face, before turning itself upside down.

 **"Thou hast revesed the Magician Social Link.**

 **Until this bond is set on the correct path,**

 **thou shalt not have our blessing."**

Time resumed, and Minato grew concerned.

 _I have a lot to ask Igor next time._

* * *

"So you want to join the Gekkoukan High MMA club, huh?" The apparent coach of the club asked Minato.

"Yes sir, I do."

"Look kid, no disrespect, but you don't look like the kind of kid who'd do MMA. you seem more like a swimmer or track and fielder to me!"

"Kazushi Sakuraba has never 'looked' like anything special either."

"You kid, are no Sakuraba." The coach all but growled.

"I'm not... but I could be." Minato responded with a smirk.

"Cocky little... fine, we'll give you a tryout against one of our better new guys! Win and your in! Morishige!"

"Yes coach!" Minato's opponent moved over towards the coach, and Minato studied him. He seemed to look 5'10 and around 180lbs, but Minato couldn't tell anything about his style. The coach whispered a few words to Morishige, who nodded and walked into the ring.

"Now get in the ring and show me what your made of, kid. Don't disappoint me." Minato nodded and also walked into the ring.

Morishige took off his gi to reveal fight trunks. Minato, prepared for just such a situation, had brought his silver and blue fight trunks from home, while Morishige was in simple red. Minato noticed the ankle wrappings Morishige wore.

 _That's gonna make a heel hook or achille's lock hard..._

The referee, a young tanned woman with dark blue hair, motioned the two fighters towards her.

"Alright boys, here are the rules: three 3 minute rounds, no grabbing the ropes, no headbutts, no low blows, no strikes to the back of the head, no kicks or knees to the head while on the ground, and no elbows. Understand?"

"Yes, Yuko-san!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright, touch gloves, then go back to your corners!"

Minato extended his gloves, but Morishige simply sneered and walked back to his corner.

 _Oh this little bitch..._

Minato walked back to his corner.

"Ready... fight!"

Both fighters walked towards the middle of the ring until Morishige threw out a quick side kick that connected with Minato's torso, sending him down to the mat, where Morishige quickly pounced into Minato's open guard in an attempt to rain continuous punishment upon Minato.

 _Too easy._

As Minato calmly blocked or avoided most of the punches Morishige threw, he suddenly caught one, surprising Morishige, before quickly transitioning his legs into a vice around said arm, with one crossing his chest and the other across his face, before quickly pulling himself into a belly down position with the arm still in tow, beginning to bend at an awkward angle. Morishige had no time to attempt an escape before the pain was too much and tapped out the arm was dislocated or worse.

"Winner!" The girl Morishige referred to as Yuko raised Minato's hand. He could overhear the coach talking to some other members of the club.

"Did anybody time that fight!?"

"I did sir, it was 22 seconds!"

"Did you see the way he locked in that armbar!?"

"22 seconds..."

"I thought Morishige had him with that side kick!"

"Yeah, but once it went to the ground, the new guy never panicked."

"I think Morishige hit him like once after that kick."

"This kid might be a challenge for even Kaz!"

"What? No way, Tanaka, what shit are you smoking?"

 _Wonder who this "Kaz" fellow is._

"Kid!"

 _JESUS DON'T DO THAT!_

"That was amazing what you did back there! Recovering from a devestating strike like that so fast!? And the armbar, and-"

"Coach, it wasn't really a devestating strike."

"Huh?"

"I felt disrespected when he didn't touch gloves with me, so I let him think he had control by falling down when he hit me with that kick. It didn't even hurt me much at all."

"But you-"

"I could've ended it faster, without him landing a single hit. I've done it before."

The coach's jaw dropped.

"So am I in?" Minato asked with a grin on his face.

"Hell yeah you're in! What's your name, kid?"

"Minato Arisato."

"Fantastic, let's go introduce you to the team."

* * *

After getting his school uniform back on, Minato met up with the coach, who proceeded to introduce him to the team.

"All right everyone, gather 'round!" The coach's voice booming in the gymnasium. "Now I'm certain most of you saw what just happened, but for those who didn't, lemme recap: this kid right here, Minato Arisato" he said, motioning to Minato "just took out Morishige with an armbar in 22 seconds! He'll be joining the team as of today, but won't be practicing."

Collective praise was all granted towards Minato, as he noticed someone walk up to him.

"Yo, so you're the kid who got Morishige, huh?"

Minato confirmed with a small nod and a sly grin.

The black haired boy grew a cocky smile. "Heh, well don't let it get to your head, you hear? Name's Kazushi Miyamoto, and I'm the captain of this team. You've seen me around, I'm sure?"

"Yeah, you're the guy in 2-F sitting in the back left corner always wearing a track suit."

"Heh, well just remember this Minato; after school, your ass is mine! We'll see just how good you are." He extended his hand. Minato grabbed it.

"Looking forward to it."

 ***CRASH***

 **"Thou art I,**

 **and I am thou.**

 **Thou hast established a new bond.**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana."**

 _What do they even mean "Choosest to create a Persona... I can create more? The fuck?_

As the crowd stepped away, with team members exclaiming how much of a big deal it was that Kazushi personally introduced himself, the girl who refereed Minato's fight walked up to him.

"Don't mind Kaz, he's really competitive. He can be an idiot, but he's a good guy."

"Oh I'm sure he is. I can be the same as him."

She chuckled. "Is that so? Well I don't know how I'll be able to handle two Kaz's then. I'm Yuko Nishiwaki, team manager and referee when need be."

"Sure you've heard the coach, but I'm Minato Arisato: newest team member and armbar extrodinaire."

More chuckles. "Well, Mr. Armbar, let's hope you can help out this team during the summer tournament."

 _Mr. Armbar... I like that._ "What's this about a tournament?"

"There's a tournament every summer that invites 8 of the best from high schools all around Japan. We've even had some gaijins entered because they were just that good."

 _All across Japan, huh... I wonder..._ "Well I'll be sure to keep my training up."

"There was going to be a monster of an athlete named Mamoru Hayase who usually enters, but unfortunately he broke his arm in a sparring match a few weeks ago, and he won't make it. Kaz was really looking forward to a chance at fighting him."

 _As would I..._

"Well, thanks for having me Yuko-san, and I won't let you or this team down." Minato bowed respectfully. Yuko laughed.

"No need to be so formal, Minato-kun! We're in the same year, right? So just call me Yuko, it's fine!"

"Alright Yuko, I'll see you at practice next time... whenever that is."

"Practices are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Minato-kun."

 _Ah, gotcha._ "Well then I'll see you and Kaz Friday!"

"See you there!"

 ***CRASH***

 **"Thou art I,**

 **and I art thou.**

 **Thou hast established a new bond.**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Strength Arcana.**

 _These things are getting weirder and weirder._

* * *

Minato walked through the front door of the dorm to find the living room unusually bustling with activity. Akihiko was shining his boxing gloves, Yukari seemed to be eating an early dinner, Mitsuru was reading a novel in a foreign language, and Junpei was reading some sort of manga. As soon as the door had opened and closed however, all eyes were on him.

"Where've you been?" Akihiko asked in a tone suggesting Minato had been late.

"I had a tryout with the amateur MMA club, and stayed behind to introduce myself to some of the team."

"So, did you make it in?"

"Yeah, senpai. My tryout match was 22 seconds."

"Really?" Akihiko asked with a hint of surprise in his voice. "I know they're 2 seperate sports, but that's faster than any fight I've ever had. I'm impressed, Minato."

"Hmph."

As all eyes lost their focus on Minato, they instead were drawn towards the source of the noise: Junpei, making his way upstairs. As he finally left everyone's vision, Minato decided to head in early as well. He lied down on his bed and simply let his thoughts overtake him.

 _*Sigh*. Damn it Junpei, why'd you have to be right?_

 _I knew I wasn't the only one scared. Hell, when you've got giant monsters you can summon by shooting yourself in the head, who wouldn't be scared!?_

 _But... damn it! Why'd those damn scientists have to go name that tower Tarturus!? They had to have known their Greek mythology! Who'd call a tower Hell!?_

 _...Those who have been inside... those who really know what it's like in there..._

 _My god, this is gonna suck tonight._

* * *

"Here!? Why'd you take us here!?"

"Just wait a minute, it's almost time."

Minato looked at his MP3 player.

11:59:58

11:59:59

12:00:00

 ***DOOM***

As the sky filled with that sickening green and all the power in Iwatodai shut off, Minato had to wonder the same as Junpei.

 _Why ARE we here?_

As Junpei continued wondering aloud why S.E.E.S. was at the entrance to Gekkoukan High School, Minato began to hear strange noises. Before he could point them out to the rest of the group, the school began twisting and contorting, each movement with horrible grinding steel symphonies accomponying it, until finally the former school settled into something straight out of an M.C. Escher painting.

"This, is Tarturus." Mitsuru noted towards the newcomers of the group. "The labyrinth that makes itself known during the Dark Hour."

"Holy hell, what the fuck just happened to our school!?" Junpei increduously asked.

"Once the Dark Hour passes, everything returns to normal." Mitsuru continued, ignoring Junpei.

"You can think of this like the Shadow's nest: We believe we'll find the reason for the Dark Hour in there. Exciting, isn't it?" Akihiko had a wild smile on his face, likely thinking of bashing all the Shadows he could with his fists. Mitsuru simply sighed.

"Akihiko, I respect your enthusiasm, but I must remind you that you aren't accompanying us tonight."

"Yeah... I know." he responded with a defeated tone.

"But why!? Why does our school turn into... into this!?"

"I don't know, Junpei." Akihiko simply responded.

Junpei turned towards Mitsuru. "You don't know either?"

"...No."

 _Bullshit, she's lying._

"Does it matter?" Yukari suddenly interjected. _Yes Yukari, it does._ "It's not like it wouldn't change our minds about fighting."

 _I'm not so sure on that, if my hunch is correct._

"Come on, we're going in." Akihiko remarked.

As S.E.E.S. made their way inside the tower, Minato couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. A grand staircase in the middle of the lobby, if you could call it that, with a giant clock behind it, with a small opening at the 6 o'clock spot. To the left, Minato found a golden gfrandfather clock, and to the right was a grand old pile of nothing, but there was a thing to the right of the entrance. Minato couldn't even describe it.

"First, we'll have you three get a feel for the place. Why don't you have a look around?" Akihiko asked.

"What!?" Yukari was clearly not ready for this. "By ourselves!?"

"We're not asking you to go very far." Mitsuru calmly stated. "Don't worry, I'll be feeding you information from here."

 _You weren't even planning on coming you piece of-_

"We'll also be apponting a leader to make any necessary decisions."

That got everyone's attention.

"Oh, are you serious?" Junpei asked, glee in his voice. He began bouncing around, waving his hand as if he were in class. "Ooh, me! Me! Pick me, me, m-Pick me!"

Yukari simply sighed at Junpei's behavior, muttering "Stupei" under her breath.

Minato simply stood in place, hands in his pockets, refusing to meet eye contact with Mitsuru after last night.

"You're in charge."

Minato looked up to find Akihiko pointing right at him, with Junpei angrily arguing over the decision.

"Wha-him!? What the hell, Akihiko-senpai, he doesn't look like a leader!"

"He has fought them before."

Junpei stopped any further argument he seemed to be making in it's tracks as he responded with a shocked tone. "Wha... you serious?"

"It's why I was in a coma for like 2 weeks."

Junpei simply looked in awe.

"There's another reason I chose him." Akihiko continued. "You two..." Akihiko pulled his Evoker out and held it towards his head, calm and cool. "Can you summon your Persona without any difficulties like he can?" He looked them dead in the eyes. "Can you place the gun to your temple and pull the trigger: no hesitation, no fear?"

"Y-yeah, of course I can!" Junpei stuttered out, no confidence in his voice whatsoever.

"I-I think I can..." Yukari answered honestly, earning some respect from Minato.

"These are Shadows we're dealing with." Akihiko began lowering his Evoker. "Without your Persona, you're screwed.

As Akihiko finished off his rousing speech, Minato felt a sudden warmth in his pocket. As he pulled out the key to the Velvet Room, he noticed it was glowing, and soon after noticed a blue door appear right behind Akihiko. Minato began walking towards it.

"Minato?"

"Yeah, Yukari?"

"Um, what are you doing?"

"...I've got no idea."

And the door opened.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: First and foremost, I've gained some new followers since my last update (I think 2), so I just want to thank everyone for following the freakshow of a story! So we have our first ever fight scene with Minato embarrasing Morishige, and now we have a Tarturus cliffhanger! See ya next time peoples!**_


	9. Chapter 9: The First Night

_**Welcome back to "Answering reviews" with your friend Sykotiksonik! We missed the last episode unfortunately, but we're back!**_

 _ **Dad of War**_ _ **: Welcome back to the story, I hope it hasn't been a total disappointment since last time! The reason I'm giving Minato's thoughts more focus is simply the fact I think it gives more character to Minato, learning what he thinks about these situations is nice after all.**_

 _ **The Magician Link reversing is an idea I've had since I started thinking about the Social Links. I think you're right, it came kinda out of nowhere and sort of felt rushed, but I wanted to introduce that aspect in and see how people felt. Minato's going max Social Links in this one, and I'm very proud of the idea I have for the Moon Link, and Junpei in particular. You can thank AFNF for inspiring my ideas with Junpei, by the way.**_

 _ **And I want you to personally know you've given me so many ideas with Minato and Tarturus just with that sentence! I was just going with the fact he knows his Greek mythology and knows Tarturus is the Greek version of Hell (as far as I know and I'll be looking that up fully later and if not I'll be making some changes to the previous chapters) (looked it up: in Roman mythology it's more like the Hell most people think of, but in Greek mythology it was originally simply a prison for threats that the Gods had percieved. According to Plato in Gorgias souls were judged after death, and the wicked recieved divine punishment. So yeah, kinda fits calling it Hell.) but I'm totally going with Minato and Tarturus having some sort of history now! I've already got my ideas, and I just want to say... poor Minato.**_

 _ **Nightlyy**_ _ **: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I was never planning to have Minato's first fight in the story be long at all, just a quick showcase of what he could do. That's also a great idea, in the A/N this chapter I'll describe some of the stuff that happened in that fight. And I didn't make a Werdum reference... at least not intentionally. If I did, I did, but Sakuraba was honestly the only one I was going for. And I'll tell you right now, no Minato's opponent in that fight is not McGregor, not an OC based on McGregor either. Honestly, I just threw in the "Oh the fight happened in England" part as a quick little reference to Fairly English Story. I've got two ideas for Minato's opponent: either an OC or a cameo, and I'm gonna write two seperate chapters, but post the one I actually like. (Just throwing this out there, it'll most likely be the cameo just for shits and giggles.) Anywhosit, ON TO THE CHAPTER!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The First Night**

"I've been waiting for you."

 _Alrighty then, blue door equals Velvet Room, but why am I here..._

"Before you begin" Igor said, cutting Minato's attempt at speaking off. "You are the only one who can see and interact with that door." Igor's smile grew slightly as Minato's surprise at his response showed, but only for a moment.

"The time has come to wield your power." Igor spoke, in that mystical tone that Minato couldn't help but be captivated by. "This tower you are about to venture into: For what purpose does it exist? Alas, you are regrettably not yet able to answer this question."

"Actually, I have my suspicions, but I'll wait until I've got more ammo before shooting into the wild blue."

Igor laughed, with Elizabeth chuckling as well, before Igor finally continued. "I've summoned you here tonight to inform you of your power in full, to the best of my ability."

"So you made the Velvet Key glow then? You have great timing, Igor." Minato sarcastically replied.

"I try." Igor responded with a sly smile on his face. "Your power, young man, is unique, in comparisons to others I've dealt with in the past."

"Wait a second, you're saying this kind of thing has happened before?"

"I mean in relation to Persona. Your group is not the first to be able to summon Personas, nor will they be the last."

 _Hm... wonder if Mitsuru knows..._

"Regardless, your power is much like the number zero: empty, yet filled with infinite possibilities."

"Do you take me for a Fool, Igor?"

With that statement, Igor's unwavering smile ceased to exist, replaced with a puzzled look of shock. "I beg your pardon?"

"You will not speak to Master Igor that way, honored guest or not." Elizabeth intervened.

"These 'Social Links' that I believe I've created all seem to be designated by one of the major Arcana of tarot." Minato explained. "So, I did some research. You're currently describing me as a Fool."

"Well, in all my years..." Igor began, still in shock, though slowly regaining his smile. "I've never seen a guest of the Velvet Room figure out the Arcana as fast as you. I'm very impressed, young man."

"Master Igor..."

"Now, now, Elizabeth, he ment no disrespect by the remark." Igor remarked, finally smiling fully again. "It seems fate has truly dealt a Wild Card of unforseen proportions."

"And just what do you mean by that, Igor?"

"I will explain at a later date. But, I must now explain your power to you, as best I can young man. The power of the Fool Arcana grants you access to multiple abilities, the most important of which is the ability to possess multiple Persona at once, and summon them when needed."

Minato simply sat there in shock.

 _Multiple Persona!? That's impossible! Though that would explain-_

Minato's thoughts were cut off as Igor continued to speak. "In addition, after the defeat of an enemy, you may see the faces of possibilty before you." Igor shuffled in his seat slightly. "There may be times when they are difficult to grasp, but fear not. Seize what you have earned and your power will grow accordingly. Please keep that in mind. Now, unless you have further business-"

"Actually, I wanted to ask about these Social Links. Well, one in particular."

"Ah, I imagine you're referring to the Magician, Junpei Iori?"

Minato's eyes grew wide at the old man. "How did you-"

Igor chuckled lightly. "It is my role to know what events transpire during your journey."

"So you've been spying on me?"

"Of a sort, you could say that. Of course, only during Social Link conversations or when you are near the Velvet Room."

 _Great, now I have magical spies..._

"But, regardless, the reversing of the Magician Social Link is a dangerous path you've taken, young man. Reversed Social Links are difficult, but not impossible to fix, but if it remains reversed for too long, the Link could be broken, which are nigh-impossible to repair."

"So then how do I fix Junpei's Link!?" Minato angrily asked.

"Calm down, young man, that I do not have the answer for you. You must seek it out yourself. But alas, time marches on in your world. My time will soon become scarce, but please: Come see me again of your own accord. Then I will tell you of my true role: the manner in which I can best assist you."

"Alright Igor, I'll be back." Minato slowly stood from his chair. "And I want answers next time."

Igor chuckled lightly. "And I will do anything within my power to answer any questions you have. But for now, farewell."

And with that Minato walked out the door only to find himself face to face with Yukari and Junpei.

"Um, can I help you?"

"Are you alright? You were staring off into space in this corner and-"

"Yes Yukari, I'm fine." _Wouldn't even believe me if I told you._

"Get your damn head in the game, Minato! You're supposed to be our leader!" Junpei angrily confronted him. "Leaders don't go off into corners and look like a damn zombie for a few minutes!"

"Braaaaains."

"Ha ha, very funny. Yuka-tan, quit laughing, it wasn't even close to funny!"

"Alright, well we've got more important things to worry about than screaming at me Junpei, so let's get a move on! We've got stuff to explore and eldritch abominations to kill."

* * *

One crash course on Persona from Mitsuru later, and Minato and company had finally entered the labyrinth.

"Alright everyone, Mitsuru-senpai said to focus on our Persona in our minds so we can check it's skills before we proceed." Minato closed his eyes, deep in thought, until finally he saw Orpheus, standing next to what appeared to be a list of skills. Orpheus knew Bash and Agi, and Minato wondered what the hell an Agi is.

"Orpheus has Bash and Agi, though I'm not sure what the hell an Agi is-"

 _"Agi is a fire skill, Arisato."_

The group jumped slightly at the sound of Mitsuru's voice in their ears.

"Woah, is that you senpai?" Junpei asked, with a slight tone of amazement in his voice.

 _"Yes, Iori. I'll be providing audio backup from here on out."_

"Wait... ya mean you can see in here!?"

 _"Yes, it's my Persona's ability. I'd like to join you three, but the structure of Tarturus changes from day to day. Therefore, outside support is imperitive."_

 _Alright, so I can kinda forgive you for not joining us then._

 _"Have Takeba and Iori checked the skills their Persona should know?"_

Minato simply looked at the two.

"Um, Io seems to have Garu and Dia."

 _"Garu is a wind skill, while Dia is a healing spell."_

"You mean Yuka-tan can heal us if we get into trouble?"

"Doesn't give us an excuse to go around all willy nilly, Junpei."

"Psh, says you."

 _"Iori, must I remind you Arisato is currently the field leader?"_

Junpei sighed. "No, senpai."

 _"Good. Now, what about your skills?"_

"Hermes here seems to only know Cleave..." Junpei said dejectedly.

 _"Your Persona will learn more skills as it gains experience through battle, Iori."_

"Heh, well then what are we waiting for!? Let's go!" Junpei began running off, quickly grabbed by Yukari. Minato chuckled.

"Hold it right there, tiger." Minato began. "We can't go running off on our own, dude."

 _"Arisato's right. I detect a few Shadows not far from your location."_

And with that everyone stopped and the mood became serious.

 _"I can scan ahead and detect their weaknesses for you, if you'd like."_

"That'd be nice, thanks Mitsuru-senpai."

 _"...It's located just around the corner a few feet in front of you. There are three Cowardly Mayas, all weak to Agi."_

"Alright, thanks." Minato turned back to Junpei and Yukari. "Ok, let's be careful now."

As the three slowly made their way towards the corner Mitsuru had mentioned, she spoke up again.

 _"I'd recommend always attempting to sneak up on the Shadows. Akihiko and I have noticed that if you can time it right, you can get the first strike in before they have a chance to respond."_

"That's actually really good to know, thanks senpai."

Minato stealthfully creeped around the corner, the three Shadows not noticing him.

"Ok, there's three of them, one for each of us." Minato pounded his gloved fists together. "Ready?"

Two nods of confirmation.

"Alright, let's go!"

The group ran around the corner, startling the three Mayas, who had no time to react before Minato grabbed his Evoker.

"ORPHEUS!"

With a bang and a flash of light, Orpheus appeared overhead, igniting one of the Mayas, reducing it to ash before it even had a chance to scream.

Junpei came running in with his katana, slashing the Maya with a jumping overhead slash, before slashing it sideways across, then preparing his katana as if it were a baseball bat.

"Junpei, that isn't how you-"

"HOME RUN!"

And with that, Junpei knocked the Shadow into the wall at a high speed, splattering it across the wall and killing it instantly.

"Yeah-hah! Who 'da man!?"

"You 'da man!" Minato praised, utterly impressed.

"IO!"

Minato's attention had been averted from singing Junepi's praises to Yukari's Persona. A woman riding a giant bull head, Minato and Junpei both shared looks of utter confusion.

A green tornado had appeared underneath the last remaining Maya, high speeds of wind tearing pieces of it apart before violently landing on the ground.

"It's not dead yet!" Yukari exclaimed in horror.

"I've got this!" Minato rushed the Shadow, and promptly dropped his elbow hard on the blue mask of the Maya, shattering it.

"Holy- Minato! Dude, what did you just do!?"

"Muay Thai elbow, shattered it's mask. Guess that's what's keeping them alive, but HOLY FUCK MY ELBOW!"

"Here, let me see." Yukari quickly said, lifting Minato's sleeve.

"Dude, not only did you shatter that mask, you shattered your elbow!" Junpei exclaimed.

"It's not that bad, Stupei." Yukari giving Junpei a pointed look. "But you did damage it. Here, let me help. IO!"

With the appearance of Io, a magic light appeared over Minato's elbow, and within seconds the pain had subsided.

"Hot damn, Yuka-tan! Guess that Dia thing is gonna be real helpful!"

"You're damn right, Jun-" Minato stopped mid sentence, noticing three cards floating where the Shadows had been before.

"Minato?"

"Dude, you sure you're alright?"

"I am the only one who sees those, right?"

"Sees what?" Yukari looked to where the Shadows had been, noticing that's where Minato was staring. "There's nothing there, Minato."

Minato sighed. "Just hang on a second." He walked to the cards and noticed their faces. One seemed to be some sort of fairy, while the other two seemed to be a wand and a cup respectively. Minato took a breath and noticed the cards flip over and start shuffling about before finally stopping. Minato's eyes had followed the fairy, and thus easily grabbed it's card.

 **Thou hast welcomed the Persona Pixie into your heart.**

 _So this is what Igor meant. A new Persona though... I should probably avoid using it until I need to._

A quick check of Pixie's skills noted she only had Dia. Minato found that slightly disappointing, but also very helpful to have another healer in case Yukari was incapacitated.

"Minato, what is up with you?"

"Would you believe me if I said 'magical things'?"

"I'm serious, Minato!"

"Simple hallucinations, I've had them for a while now. Nothing to be concerned over."

"...If you say so."

"Senpai, can you detect any more Shadows?"

 _"Oddly enough, no. This is extremely unnerving, there are usually far more on the prowl."_

"Heh, I'm not worrying about it, senpai!" Junpei exclaimed.

 _"Regardless, best air on the side of caution. I'd like you all to look for an access point so you can return to the lobby."_

"And an access point is...?"

 _"You saw that large machine in the lobby, correct Arisato? Access points look like them, only smaller."_

"Alright everyone, you heard Mitsuru-senpai. Let's split up and look for an-"

"Found it!"

"You serious, Junpei?" Yukari asked in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, I also found a briefcase full of money! I counted up about 300 yen in there!"

"Well then I guess you get to keep it. I imagine we'll be finding more as we go." Minato smiled.

 _Lucky bastard, wish I could've found 300 yen._

"Anyways, let's head on through. It already looks active."

 _"It's simply a teleporter. Just step inside and you'll be transported back to the lobby. It's completely safe."_

 _It's almost like she knew what I was thinking._

The three cautiously stepped inside the access point. A bright flash of light engulfed them, and when the light vanished, they noticed they were back in the lobby.

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted. "So, how was it?"

Minato simply shrugged. "Not as bad as I was expecting."

"I see, well if you've gained confidence and experience in battle, that's the best thing you could have achieved."

 _Your regal tone is starting to bother me._

"Wow, I never knew I had that kind of power! We kicked some ass!" Junpei exclaimed. "...But damn, I'm beat."

"That's cause you were bouncing around like a little kid."

"Yeah, well you look pretty tired yourself, Yuka-tan."

"I'm still trying to catch my breath, actually..."

"I caught my breath, but yeah, I'm a bit more tired than usual."

"That's the effect of the Dark Hour." Mitsuru spoke up. "You'll become fatigued more easily, but you will adapt, as Akihiko and I can attest to." She looked back at Akihiko with a small smile on her face. "At this rate they'll catch up to you in no time, Akihiko."

Akihiko grinned. "We'll see about that."

 ***CRASH***

 _Huh? Another one?_

 **"I am thou, thou art I."**

 **"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana"**

 _Shit, I knew I forgot to ask Igor something! Maybe next time, I don't have the time right now._

"So are we heading back to the dorm, senpai? I kinda feel like just passing out." Junpei admitted.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note**_ _ **: As promised in the answer to Nightlyy's review, I'll be explaining some of the MMA things that happened in the previous chapter, just for those who had no idea what was going on, even if it makes me look like I'm treating you guys as idiots (not the intention I swear), so hold onto your hats, cause this is gonna be a long one.**_

 _ **For starters, Kazushi Sakuraba is a legendary Japanese MMA fighter, as well as a pro wrestler who's mainly famous for being known as "The Gracie Killer". The Gracies are a legendary Brazillian Jiu Jitsu family, and the most famous one, Royce (pronounced Hoyce because Brazillian language is weird lol) kinda sorta dominated the early days of the UFC, mainly because no one had a counter to his grappling skills. But Sakuraba seemed to have this thing about him where everytime he fought a Gracie, who have always been seen as nigh unbeatable, he'd beat them. He became the first man in decades to defeat a Gracie in professional fighting when he defeated Royler Gracie with a Kimura Lock (which in basic terms (don't hate me for not describing this right, Nightlyy I am but a simple MMA fan) is a reverse wristlock, the applier's arm goes over and under the recipient's shoulder, grabbing their own wrist for leverage, using the other free hand to grab the recipient's wrist and ben their arm backwards behind them. Very painful technique), and though Royler never officially submitted, the referee did stop the fight and awarded the victory to Sakuraba via TKO (technical knockout) for some reason (could've called it technical submission but whatever). Then, Royce Gracie took a fight with Sakuraba in an attempt to set the record straight. They ended up fighting during the PRIDE 2000 Grand Prix, with special rules set by Royce that are most definetely NOT allowed in today's day and age: No referee stoppages, no time limits, and the fight can only end via knockout or submission. Sakuraba and Gracie went to a 90 minute war that eventually ended when Royce's corner threw in the towel, a sign of submission (my personal favorite fight of all time). Unfortunately, Sakuraba did not win the tournament, losing in the semi-finals to Igor Vovchanchyn due to corner stoppage via fatigue. He broke Renzo Gracie's arm with a Kimura lock, with Renzo refusing to submit and thus the fight had to be stopped (my favorite moment in MMA history because Renzo simply looks like he gives no fucks his arm is literally facing the other way), and defeated Ryan Gracie and this is going on too long about fucking Sakuraba so just know he's a badass.**_

 _ **Now, for what happened during the fight. First off, in case you hadn't figured it out, touching gloves is a symbol of respect in boxing and MMA, so Minato felt extremely disrespected by Morishige's actions. Next, Morishige knocks Minato down with a kick and jumps into his open guard. Open guard is a position in grappling that allows the fighter on top to rain down punishment, while also allowing the fighter on bottom easy access to an escape route by using his legs to push off, and allows some access to some chokes or joint locks (such as the armbar) and it's so hard to describe what this position actually looks like so I'll just say look up a picture or video of open guard on Google. There are other positions I may or may not be using during the big fight in the tournament, such as half guard (where the top fighter is sitting on the bottom fighter's upper thigh), side control (where one fighter literally just sort of lays on his opponent, in a sideways fashion of course), muay thai clinch (get a friend, have both of you standing, and literally just grab them by the back of the head with both hands while still facing them), clinch (multiple variaties, the most common one is basically just grab your friend in a bear hug), takedown (just kinda... taking someone down to the mat WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY!?), north south position (get your minds in the gutter, because that's the only way I can describe this. Now get out of the gutter, ya filthy aminals, yeah I know what I said), back mount (sitting on someone's back), mount (sitting on someone's chest), etc. so honestly just look up a list of MMA or grappling positions, and look up some clinches too because I honestly suck at actually describing shit like this. Just like my love of football. I can tell you that a play worked, I can even tell you WHY it worked to a basic degree, but actual detail and shit, like coverages and blocking schemes? Fuck no.**_

 _ **Submissions are another thing I suck at describing, though I think they're easier to describe than positions. The armbar, for example: I don't need to actually explain what that is because I'm almost positive you've seen at least one in your life. And if not, I think my description of a belly down armbar was pretty good. Now if I had used a gogoplata on the other hand, hoo boy that would require some explanation.**_

 _ **And that's all I have to say about the MMA portion of last chapter, so I can quickly talk about this chapter! Shadow shenanigans, Junpei still being an ass, but not quite as much as before, the Velvet Room, a new Persona, boy a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, huh!? Kinda proud of this one, since I kinda got back into the mood after finishing my rereading of A Fool Named Fortune Reshuffled for like the 5th time. It actually helped inspire some of Minato's character: his quick wit (Would you believe me if I said 'magical things'?), his snarky inner thoughts (mainly a replacement for Pharos because unlike almost every other fic I've read and enjoyed I am not having Pharos follow Minato around all the time because I just wouldn't be able to think of anything), and finally his tendancy to just yell things out. I want to make this story more serious than AFNF, but not as serious as the actual game, y'know what I'm saying? See ya next time, peoples!**_


	10. Chapter 10: The Magician Lives

_**Author's Note: Yeah I know normally I wait until the end of the chapter to do these, but this is important so listen up.**_

 _ **I've had some writer's block lately, and I'll tell you why. I've got the ideas in my head, I've got the script for the bare basics, but I'm having a hard time putting it into third person. I know, how silly, right? Well, the problem is I've never been much for third person anyways. My two favorite Persona fics, A Fool Named Fortune Reshuffled and Fairly English Story do first person, and I find reading first much more engaging than I do third. I find writing first person easier and overall more fun as well. But because of the advice I was given, I decided to keep going with third person after my experimental 6th chapter. Personally, I was proud of that chapter because of how easily and naturally everything flowed to me. So that's why, after thinking about it and getting some advice from a dear friend outside this story, I'm permanently changing For Every Soul to first person. This is why I put the author's note up front, because I knew readers would get confused, and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. I wanted to put a quick little warning here letting everyone know that this is what's happening now. I want to write something while I enjoy writing it, not churn things out because people enjoy it, when I'm having a hard time happily writing it, you know what I mean?**_

 _ **Also a quick little superfluos thing but I'm no longer titling chapters because I'm also having a hard time thinking of interesting names. I mean really, "The Tower of Demise" has little to do with Tarturus until near the end, and "The First Night" does not do the first foray into Tarturus justice. I'm also no longer going to be italicizing Minato's thoughts. I feel it's no longer necessary,**_

 _ **I hope you guys get where I'm coming from. I'm proud of the fairly positive reception this story has gotten, and I thank all of you for your follows and reviews and favorites, but I'd be prouder if I got a positive reception with a style I enjoy writing.**_

 _ **Now, with that out of the way, ONTO THE CHAPTER!**_

"Hey, Minato-kun!"

I turned my head as I walked through the school gate to find Kenji running up to me. "Hey Kenji." I greeted with a wave.

"Hey, tell me: how is it living in the dorm with Yukari-san and Mitsuru-senpai?" He asked with a toothy grin on his face.

Damn dude, don't you think about anything other than women?

"Like I told you before, Kenji, it's really no big deal. They aren't really my type."

"Oh..." He looked sad. I grinned.

"With Junpei and Akihiko-senpai though, it's a blast! Akihiko-senpai is just like me, and Junpei's a fun guy to be around." My grin slowly faded away though as we walked into the school lobby. "But I kinda said something to Junpei that really bothered him, and I'm wondering how to make it up to him."

"Well what'd you say?"

Oh, I only implied that he didn't care about a life threatening situation. No big deal.

"S.E.E.S. club business. Mitsuru-senpai told us we aren't allowed to talk about it to people not in the club."

"Oh, well I don't know if I can help you much, Minato, but try telling him about the baseball club opening up soon. Honestly, he's my best friend and all, but man he never pays attention to anything outside manga or video games."

I noticed that we had reached our class. "Looks like we'll continue this later. How about after school?"

"Yeah man." Kenji grinned. "How about Hagakure?"

"Hell yeah, dude. The ramen is pretty sick."

Kenji laughed. "Alright man, I'll see you later!" And with that we walked into class.

Nothing terribly interesting happened during any classes, except for when Toriumi-sensei asked Junpei who her favorite author was, and he had to ask me for help. I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the double irony: one because he was asking _me_ , and two because I had no fucking idea: I was sleeping at the time. Luckily, I blurted out the first author that came to mind and somehow that happened to be the correct answer. Toriumi-sensei either didn't notice I gave Junpei the answer or just didn't care, and after that I went straight back to sleep, though I could overhear my fellow classmates buzzing about how impressed they were that I gave Junpei the right answer while still half asleep. I gotta admit, I was impressed too.

Me and Kenji decided to walk to Hagakure instead of just meeting each other there. As we walked out through the exit, he gave me his number, and I gave him mine. We were greeted by an interesting sight, or rather, scream.

"LOOK, IT'S AKIHIKO-SENPAI!"

"Where!? Oh, there he is!"

"SENPAI!"

As we watched Akihiko attempt to just walk straight through the horde of female students, Junpei walked up beside us and gave his thoughts on the scene.

"Man, can you believe that? You only see chicks flock like that in some sort of anime."

"Yeah, dude." Kenji agreed.

"Akihiko-san would be the perfect Shonen anime protaganist. I mean look at him, silver hair, champion boxer, calm and cool attitude, he SCREAMS anime." Junpei replied.

"It looks like Akihiko-senpai is in his own little harem anime." Kenji chuckled.

I had to laugh at the image of Akihiko in a harem anime, which apparently got Akihiko's attention, as he quickly walked over to us.

"Hey, are you two free this afternoon?" He asked.

"I have plans with Kenji, but what do you need?"

"I'd like you two to meet me at the police station, if you could."

"T-the police station?" Junpei asked, surprised. "You mean we're not gonna hang out with your friends there?"

"Who, these girls?" Akihiko responded, not even glancing in the group's direction. "I don't even know their names." Junpei's jaw drop was hilarious to see. "They talk so much they give me a headache. Anyways, if you aren't too busy don't forget to stop by the station." He jogged off, with the horde of fangirls screaming after him

I gave Kenji a small nod. "We'll hang out later. Say, Sunday?"

"Heh, I'll hold you to that Minato! And you're paying next time!"

"Alright, later Kenji." I waved before turning to Junpei. "Alright let's go."

"Huh?"

"Akihiko-senpai said to meet him at the police station and I don't know where that is, so come on."

"Alright, fine, Mr. Leader. Let's go." He grumbled some more, but I wasn't able to make out much of anything.

As we began walking, Junpei suddenly blurted out "How can he not know their names! I mean seriously, those were some smokin' hot babes, and he just acted like they were a minor annoyance!"

"Maybe they were to him." I pointed out.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Think about it, dude. I don't really pay much attention to Yukari or Mitsuru-senpai because they aren't my type. Maybe none of those girls were Akihiko-senpai's type."

"He's gotta have some unrealistic standards then."

"Maybe he's gay?"

"PFFT, WHAT!?" Junpei did a spit take with the can of Dr. Salt he was drinking at the time. "There's no way!"

"I don't know the guy well enough, so it's just a wild swing in the dark." I shrugged.

"That would be a shock to find out though." Junpei muttered.

"Say, Junpei, how about a challenge?" I asked.

"Huh? What kind of challenge?" Junpei responded, slightly wary.

"Kenji told me a secret this morning he said you might be interested in." I continued, a small grin growing. "So how about we play a game for it. You win, I'll tell you. I win, I won't. Fair?"

"What kinda game?"

"Me and you in Guilty Gear X." I gave an evil grin.

"Heh, you're on!" Junpei exclaimed, confidence radiating in his voice.

We continued small talk, surprised the Social Link didn't fix itself, but I guess he's just being friend _ly_ and not my friend, which was disappointing, but oh well. What do I have to do, save his life or something?

Anyway, we walked into Paulownia Mall, where Junpei escorted me to the police station I somehow didn't notice the last time I was here. We walked in to find Akihiko conversing with a stern faced officer., who both turned to face us as we entered.

"Ah, right on time." Akihiko commented, before turning back to the officer. "These are the two I was talking about." Akihiko turned back to us as we walked over to him. "Minato, Junpei, this is Officer Kurosawa, and he helps us out by supplying weapons and armor."

"No kidding? Couldn't that get you in some trouble?" I asked.

"Yeah, it could." He gruffly replied. "But I'm only doing what I think is right. It doesn't take a genius to know something supernatural is going on, and this is my way of helping out."

"But of course..." Akihiko interjected, handing us each some yen. "It doesn't come free."

"Of course not." Kurosawa replied. "Nothing in life comes free."

"I understand." All three of us replied.

"Well, I'm off. Thanks again, Kurosawa-san. Minato, Junpei, catch you guys back at the dorm."

"Hey, Akihiko-senpai, shouldn't we all have each other's numbers in case something comes up?" I asked. You could practically hear the mental facepalming Akihiko was giving himself for not thinking of it sooner. The three of us exchanged numbers, and Akihiko jogged out of the station. I browsed the gear avaliable, while Junpei complained about something I wasn't able to make out before saying he'd see me back at the dorm. I stopped at some brass knuckles, in excellent condition, and an armored camo shirt.

"Do you take in weapons and stuff I already have?"

"Yes, for a reduced income."

"Well, I have these metal gloves and this shortsword."

"I can give you 550 yen."

"550!? I've been taking care of these gloves for years, and they're in about the same condition as the gloves you have for sale at 1200 yen! I say 600 for the gloves and 250 for the shortsword!"

"Hmph, deal."

"Now, do you have a pair of elbow pads and knee pads?"

All in all, I spent about 2500 yen on the gear I bought for myself, and the rest of my money on gear for Junpei and Yukari. For some reason, I was able to see some little bonuses these items gave, so I emailed Akihiko and he told me that Persona users are able to see things like that. My brass knuckles did extra damage against Priestess type Shadows, Junpei's new Gladius somehow increased his ability to take damage, and Yukari's new bow that I already forgot the name of had a small chance of inflicting Fear. No idea what that meant, but sounds helpful. Anyways, Kurosawa said he'd mail the gear to the dorm and it would arrive withing 2-3 days. I thanked him and walked out of the station, only for my eyes to catch an illuminating blue coming from an alleyway to my left. It couldn't be...

Sure enough, as I went to investigate, it was. Another door to the Velvet Room. I sighed, wondering how they got outside of Tarturus, before finally accepting that I should probably investigate. So I walked through the door, and found myself face to nose with Igor.

"Ah, we've been expecting you." Igor said in that Igor voice of his. "The time has now come for me to reveal my true role to you."

"It's about time. I hate being kept in the dark."

Igor chuckled. Everything is so funny to him, isn't it? "My role is to provide you with brand new Personas through Persona Fusion."

And my eyebrow, and intrigue, both go up at the same time.

"Yes, by providing me at least two Personas, I can fuse them to create a brand new Persona for you." Igor smiled widely.

"And what are the advantages and disadvantages of this process?" I asked, still intrigued.

"Not many think to ask that, my young friend." Igor respoded. "Very well. The advantages are that the new Persona tends to come out stronger than the two used to perform the Fusion. Plus, you may wish to inherit some skills from your two Personas into the new Persona. Some Personas can only learn certain skills this way."

I smiled at the idea of it all.

"The disadvantages of this process are that you will forever lose the two Personas you used to perform the Fusion. There's also the slim chance of a Fusion Accident occuring."

"Fusion Accident?"

"Even with my great power, I'm not perfect. Persona Fusion requires immense concentration, and if I were to lose focus for even a fraction of a second, a Fusion Accident would occur. In that case, you may end up with an amazingly powerful Persona, or a pathetically weak Persona, I cannot control the outcome. As I said, however, it's incredibly slim."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take, Igor." I continued to smile at the thought of gaining new Personas. "Can I fuse Orpheus and Pixie?"

"Hmm, not yet. The resulting Persona would be a little too strong for you at the moment. If I were to rank you in a leveling system, I would put you at a level 3 while the resulting Persona, Alp, would be a level 6."

So I'm living in an RPG. "That's disappointing, then. Anyways, I have a question, actually."

Igor smiled, as he tends to do. "Well then, by all means, ask away."

"I need to know: These sudden timestops and some voice in my head... are they Social Links?"

"Yes, my master will stop time to inform you of a Social Link upgrade, whether positive or negative."

"Well can you tell your master to at least turn the volume down? It's been giving me headaches. And what do these Social Links even do, anyways?"

"Ah, the bonds you form with others provide power for me to implement during the Fusion process. For example, if you were to fuse Alp, and you had started the Lovers Social Link, I could infuse a small bit of extra power into Alp. And if you were to max the Lovers Link, I could infuse enough power to grant it five extra levels of strength."

"So basically, without my Social Links, it'd be harder for my Personas to become stronger. I imagine they can become stronger through battle?"

"Yes, both of your suspicions are true."

I sighed. "So now I'm going to become a parasite, just using my friends for power. Wonderful."

"Master Igor, may I interrupt for a moment?"

"Feel free, Elizabeth." Igor responded politely.

"I'd like to ask you, Master Minato, if you would partake on a list of requests for me. I will reward you for your efforts, though they are optional of course."

"May I see the list?"

"Of course."

I read over the list and found myself intrigued by some of the requests avaliable to me.

"Who is 'The Ultimate Opponent'?" I asked.

"They've informed both myself and Master Igor they wish to remain anonymous until the time for battle has come."

"Hmm, and why do you want to visit Paulownia Mall?"

"I wish to endulge myself on the learning opportunity that presents itself studying your human world, partaking in your culture and rituals and-"

"Ok, ok, I get it. And I assume you can only do this with your guest of the Velvet Room? Not by yourself?"

"That is correct."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. How's Monday sound to you?"

"I'll look forward to it, Master Minato."

"Alrighty then. Igor, Elizabeth, thank you and I'll see you later." I shook Igor's and Elizabeth's hands.

"We will eagerly await your return, Master Minato." Elizabeth bowed.

And with that I walked out of the Velvet Room.

I walked back to the dorm at a fairly slow pace, a cool breeze hitting my face despite being late April, and took in the sight of a shrine as I was fairly close to the dorm. I had never taken this route, so this was my first time seeing it. I made a mental note to check it out later, and walked into the dorm.

"Oh, hey." Yukari greeted.

"Junpei, meet me up in my room in about 10 minutes."

"Oh, yeah, the challenge!" Junpei exclaimed, suddenly eating his dinner like a man possesed.

"Wait, what's going on?" Yukari asked.

"Junpei, chill dude, you'll choke like that." I said. "Anyways, I challenged Junpei to a game. If he wins, I have to tell him my secret that Kenji told me, and if I win I don't. I'll be in my room, Junpei." I said as I grabbed a Cielo Mist out of the fridge.

Within a minute of me arriving at my room, Junpei was there as well. I hooked the PS2 up, grabbed my controller, and Junpei grabbed his. The game booted up, and we chose our characters, Millia Rage for me and Sol Badguy for Junpei.

To make a long story short I got my ass kicked. Granted, I've never been good against Sol Badguy, but Junpei was almost at a pro level, he was that good. I got one hit in the entire fight, and I'm pretty good with Millia if I do say so myself.

"Have you ever entered any tournaments, Junpei? You're scary good."

"Heh, nah, never been into that kind of stuff. I just like to play and have fun. But I won, and you lost, so cough it up!"

I sighed in an overdramatic way, because regardless if I had won or lost I still would've told Junpei. "Fine. I heard from Kenji that Gekkoukan will be starting up a baseball club soon."

Junpei jumped to his feet in excitement. "Are you serious!? Oh man, that's so awesome! Dude!" He high fived me. He was smiling so widely it was fairly contagious. "...But what if he's lying?" Junpei angrily realized.

"Dude, if Kenji's lying I'll hold him while you beat the hell out of him. After seeing you this happy, I'd be pissed too."

Junpei laughed. "Yeah, I'll take you up on that."

Before I could think of what to say next, Junpei suddenly stood in front of me.

"Look, Minato? I'm sorry about what happened a few days ago. To be honest, I was pretty scared, I was just trying to keep it in, y'know? Seeing you smash your elbow against that Shadow made me realize just what we're up against. This ain't a game, and I should never have taken it lightly." He place a hand on my shoulder. "Friends?"

I looked Junpei right in the eye. "Nah. We're bros."

 ***CRASH***

And just like that the moment is ruined as the Magician card flips itself into the upright position.

 **"Thou hast righted the Magician Social Link**

 **Go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when though choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana"**

And all is right with the world. "Come on, let's go. I'm hungry."

"So am I."

"You just ate something with Sonic Speed." I laughed. Junpei laughed. Everything felt right.


	11. Chapter 11: The Arcana Revelation

_**Alrighty, I'm feeling good, so how about we answer some reviews!**_

 _ **Dad of War: Why thank you! It means so much hearing that someone thinks I'm getting better and better! We are starting to see more of Minato as a character, and that's why I went first person: I find it easier to write his character from his perspective. And Minato will be paling around with a majority of his canon friends and Links outside of school as well! It's something I wish we got more of besides just the random calls to hang on Sundays. What will Minato and Hidetoshi do after Student Council, for example? We'll find out later on! After all, it would suck if I changed a few Social Links and just left the canon ones to rot, wouldn't it?**_

* * *

After that rousing game of Guilty Gear X and the sweet sound of a Social Link fixing itself me and Junpei walked down to the lobby, myself deciding to cook a quick dinner and Junpei positioning himself right on the couch, striking up a conversation with Yukari. Of course, once I started cooking I put my music on and the conversation about a test was quickly drowned out by some Lotus Juice. Man, Mass Destruction is such a good song.

Anyways, I sat down with my small bowl of homemade ramen at the dining room table. The noodles aren't really much, especially compared to Hagakure, but they taste good, so that's all that matters. Before I could even take one bite, however, Mitsuru walked through the door, and made a quick search before spotting me.

"Arisato, I need to speak with you for a moment." She calmy remarked.

I stood from my seat and walked over to her. "Sure, senpai, what's up?"

"Regarding our explorations through Tarturus, I've decided that it will be up to you when we next go from now on."

"Excuse me?" I asked, surprised at such a decision. I mean being a field leader is one thing, but actually deciding when we go to Tarturus was just a bit unexpected.

"With your showcase not just in battle, but in leading the team during that fight last night, I believe that a schedule decided upon by the field leader would be the best course of action. Akihiko and the Chairman have already approved as well."

"Well, I guess I can't say no to that, now can I?" I sheepishly grinned.

"Excellent. There is also the matter of being allowed to go out at night from now on, and we need to discuss your Club Escapade performance this Wednesday."

Shit, I had completely forgotten that. My eyes told the entire story.

"The band has already been decided, but they would like to practice with you for the rest of the week."

What song am I going to sing? Will they even like the same styles of music as I do? Will they be willing to work with me? Asuka back in Kyoto did say I was hard to work with when it came to my music.

"Um, thanks, Mitsuru-senpai." I said. "About Tarturus, how about we go tomorrow night?, or maybe Saturday?"

"Hey, why not tonight?" Junpei asked. "Hermes is itching to Cleave some Shadows!"

"No, not tonight." I responded curtly.

"I have to agree with Minato on this one." Yukari admitted.

"I've no doubt the three of you have yet to fully recover from last night." Mitsuru spoke. "Overexertion during the Dark Hour can lead to increasing fatigue and even illness."

"And I'm going to try to avoid that as best as I can." I responded with a determined face.

"Damn, dude, you're serious about this, huh?" Junpei asked, impressed.

"Like you said bro, this isn't a joke. I'm going to be at 100% when I end the Shadows' very existence."

"I like the way you think, Minato." Akihiko said as he suddenly walked in, surprising everyone save for Mitsuru.

Mitsuru gave a small chuckle. "I admire your determination, Arisato. I can see we made no mistake with our decision."

"I won't let you guys down. We'll end this wretched Dark Hour!" I exclaimed. Junpei grinned and exclaimed "Hell yeah!" Akihiko simply smiled. Yukari agreed as well "Let's do our best!" and Mitsuru simply nodded.

 ***CRASH***

Again!? Which one is this?

 **"I am thou, thou art I.**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana."**

I JUST MADE YOU YESTERDAY, WHAT!?

* * *

After that scene, with the Social Link level up still confusing me, I sat down to eat my still warm ramen, which was still good. After dinner, Akihiko was flipping through the channels on TV until the news caught everyone's attention with reports that Apathy Syndrome is on the rise.

"Apathy Syndrome... The Shadows cause that, right?" I asked. Mitsuru and Akihiko simply nodded.

Well, that settles things.

After listening to the news report, Akihiko turned off the TV, and we all sort of did our own little thing. I noticed Junpei pull out his PSP, so I decided to grab mine from my room. I had a friend back in Kyoto hack it last year, so now I have all these Super Famicom and Playstation 1 games on it. I love to play this little thing man.

So I came back into the lobby and booted it up, when Junpei noticed and suddenly came over to me.

"Dude, you have a PSP too?" He asked with an excited grin on his face.

"Of course." I grinned back as I booted up Dragon Quest IV, much to Junpei's confusion.

"I didn't know they ported Dragon Quest IV to the PSP?"

"They didn't. My friend Ryu hacked it to play PS1 and Super Famicom games."

"Dude." He responded in amazement. "That's so sweet! But why Dragon Quest? Don't you know Final Fantasy is so much better?"

"But see Junpei, I like the art style of Dragon Quest a lot more."

"Why, cause it looks kinda like Dragon Ball?"

"That's exactly the reason. Toriyama-san drew the art for all the Dragon Quest games."

Junpei's jaw dropped. I thought it was fairly common knowledge, but I guess not. "No way."

"He also did Chrono Trigger."

"WHAT!?" Junpei screamed loudly in my ear.

"Yeah man."

"Holy shit that's awesome!" Junpei seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you if you game on the PC?"

"Every now and then but generally I prefer my PS2 and PSP. Why?"

"Cause, there's this sick MMO called Innocent Sin Online. Kenji gave me a copy but I already had one, so I was gonna give it to you. We have a three day weekend, so you should try it out."

"Got plans with Kenji Sunday, so yeah I'll try it Saturday."

"Alright man." He handed me the copy of the game. I took a look at the box art. Nothing too fancy: just the name of the name, two character sprites (a boy and a girl) and some company logos. Apparently it was created or published by Atlas, a company I'd never heard of.

"Speaking of games, do you have any multiplayer games, Minato?"

* * *

After thoroughly explaining to Junpei why I would not play him in Guilty Gear XX on our PSPs, I decided to head on down to Paulownia Mall. I wondered briefly if the music shop was still open while I sat on the train, once again istening to some Lotus Juice because wow was Junpei right these guys are AWESOME!

As I walked through the entrance I briefly wondered if I should make a stop at the Velvet Room and see if there's anymore info they can give me. I decided against it, and walked over to the music shop only to find they were closed. Damn, maybe tomorrow after school.

"My, aren't you handsome!"

I'm sorry, what? I turned towards the sound of the voice to find a fairly creepy man in a suit staring right at me. I was feeling really uncomfortable, and stared back, when I noticed something forming over his head. A card.

Devil.

What the hell is this?

"How would you like to become rich, young man?"

Oh great, a scam artist. Let's try to stay calm and humor him. "Boy, would I!"

A sly grin grew on the man's face. "Well, if you give me just 20,000 yen, I can have your money doubled, no, tripled by tomorrow night!" He smiled such a fake smile it hurt to see. "You'll become fabulously wealthy while you sleep!"

On the one hand, he's very obviously lying. On the other hand, I've saved up about 60,000 yen that I brought with me from Kyoto, and I'm honestly interested in where this goes tomorrow night.

"Sure, ok." I handed him 20,000 yen. The glee on his face as he seemingly scammed a new customer was honestly a lovely sight, especially since I plan on getting that 20,000 yen back. "I'll meet you back here tomorrow night for my 60,000 yen." I said as I walked away. I couldn't make out most of his response, but I did hear him call me a sucker. This is gonna be fun.

But I _really_ needed to figure out what the hell just happened with that card appearing over the man's head. Surprised I didn't freak out more, like the guy in the music video to Nickelback's "Savin' Me". I guess in the past few weeks I've dealt with so much insanity I've kind of gotten used to it. I walked into the Velvet Room.

"Ah, Master Minato." Igor greeted, calling me both Master and my name for the first time. "What a pleasent surprise. We weren't expecting you until Monday."

"Yeah, well I just had a conversation with some guy and I saw a card above his head that was the Devil. What the hell just happened!?"

Igor chuckled lightly. "Another one of your abilities has begun to show itself to you. You have the ability to sense not only a person's Arcana, but also their Persona, if they possess one."

Jaw drop. "You're kidding me..."

"I believe the reason why this hasn't shown itself to you before was because you haven't focused hard enough on any single person until tonight. Try it with your friends and Social Links." Igor recommended.

"...Yeah... yeah I'll try that. Thanks Igor. I'll see you guys Monday."

"Farewell, Master Minato." Both igor and Elizabeth said in unison. Fairly creepy.

I walked out of the Velvet Room and rode the train back to the station. I decided to try out the Arcana sense thing, and found it actually worked. I was able to see everyone's Arcana if I focused enough. Nobody had a Persona though.

But as I was walking home, I happened to spot a boy with blue hair walking on the other side of the street. Of course, I tried my Arcana sense and found he was of the Fortune Arcana, but what was freaky was that I could sense something else. It wasn't visable, but there was some sort of... pulse in the back of my head that I only got when I focused on him. I had a feeling, but once I tried it on the rest of the team back at the dorm I quickly figured out I probably just had a headache from focusing too long. If anyone has a Persona, it will show up alongside their Arcana card as I focus. I found out everyone elses Arcana and Persona, because I already knew both of Junpei's. I didn't know Akihiko's Persona, but damn is that thing pretty cool. And it has a sick name: Polydeceus. Yukari is of the Lovers Arcana, and Mitsuru is of the Empress Arcana and her Persona is Penthesilea. I'm going to have to do some more studying of Tarot later on. Maybe I could ask Igor if he has a book about it.

* * *

"Alright everyone, great practice! I'll see you all Wednesday!"

I packed up my MMA gear, took a quick shower in the locker room, and told Kaz I'd see him later. He asked if I was free Sunday, but I had told him I had plans with Kenji and had to decline. He understood, but did seem a bit sad. Shame, I'd like to get to know the guy more outside of MMA. He has a lot of potential but it seems like he's focusing way too much on it.

While I thought to myself many solutions for this percieved problem, I noticed Yuko standing by the shoe lockers. Being the upstanding, yet still fairly shy boy I am it took a few seconds to gather myself and ask if she wanted to walk home. There were no romantic implications there, but I guess she thought so because she politely declined. I told her I'd see her later and went back to the dorm. I stopped at the shrine though, because I actually wanted to see what was up here. Fairly nice place, an offering box, some wishing enmas, and an inari sushi box. Never did understand what _that_ in particular was for, but then again I'm not much of the spiritual type anyways. I left a 1000 yen donation out of respect and was on my way down the stairs when I heard soft sobs. A quick scan of the area revealed two things to me: one, that this shrine has a playground, and two, that there's a little girl sitting there all alone crying. Not only did she look sad (obviously), but she also looked hungry, possibly hasn't eaten anything since breakfast. This will not do at all. Luckily she didn't notice me, so I could sneak out and make a quick stop at Iwatodai Station, where there was a takoyaki stand. Not my first thought, I'll admit, but ok. I also bought a Mad Bull. I figured she was thirsty. All in all, it took me about 25 minutes, so I hoped she would still be there when I got back. Thankfully, she was, but sadly, she was still crying. I walked over to her, and she raised her head up and looked at me with red, puffy, yet still curious eyes.

"I saw you earlier, and you looked real sad and hungry. Would you like some takoyaki to help cheer you up?" I asked, my voice as kind and polite as I could get it. I liked kids, and hated seeing one upset.

She stared at me for what felt like an eternity before finally, slowly nodding her head. I handed her the box and the can of Mad Bull. She continued to stare at the box, almost like she had never seen one before, before finally turning to me. "...I'm not allowed to take things from strangers..." she said, almost frightfully. Not scared _of_ me, scared of upsetting me. And that hurt, so I thought quickly. "What's your name?" I asked kindly.

"M-Maiko..." she quietly responded.

"Well Maiko, I'm Minato. Guess what?"

"What?"

"We're not strangers anymore!" I smiled. That got a very small smile out of her. "So dig in!"

"...You're a nice man, Mr. Minato. Will you come back and play with me?"

"Of course, Maiko. And thank you very much for calling me nice. You don't have to call me Mister, though. Just Minato will do."

"Ok Minato! You promise?"

"Pinky-promise." I extended my pinky and she hooked hers with mine. The smile on her face was so precious, I smiled just as wide.

 ***CRASH***

 **"I am thou.**

 **Thou art I."**

Look, I know you're trying to tell me about some new Social Link (apparently the Hanged Man), but you have a horrible habit of breaking up heartwarming moments.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Took me a little while (in fact, I've already written the first chapter of my new fic before I came up with the ending of this one), but it's done! I like all the little things I did with this chapter: The Tanaka scene, Maiko's introduction, and OH BOY THAT CAMEO. Take your guesses on the (in)signifigance of said cameo I know all of you caught it. I won't spoil it (and I'd ask that you don't spoil it either please), but it was pretty obvious if you're a Persona fan, all I'll say. See ya next time, peoples!**_


	12. Chapter 12: Death

_**Nightlly: Mitsuru is finally in character, yes. Took me a bit, and she's still at least friendly with Minato, but yeah, she's still the Mitsuru we all know and (some of us) love. I'm interested in writing the Chariot out of all of them because Kaz is personally my favorite Social Link character, and I'd like to do some more stuff besides his leg injury (which will happen, but there will be other things too.) Thanks for the kind words!**_

 _ **RosyMiranto18: I'm sorry but I have no idea who that is, so obviously no it's not that character. Thanks for guessing, and you're more than welcome to try again! Whether you get the answer right or not, after this, I'll never tell...**_

 _ **Dad of War: Cameo Dude is in Iwatodai because reasons! *evil laugh* Don't worry, it won't be chapter after chapter of Social Links, and then Tarturus, I'll throw in a Social Link during some chapters, others will be plot important, and still others will be just "What's Minato and S.E.E.S. up to outside Tarturus?" I told ya I want these guys to be friends and gosh darn it they will be! Minato being kind to Maiko is another bit of his character: He loves kids, and plans to be a father someday. I like how my characterization seems to be a new one for everybody: that's what I was going for after all!**_

 _ **With that out of the way, ONTO THE CHAPTER!**_

* * *

After telling Maiko that I'd be able to meet her somedays after school at the playground, I said goodbye and walked into the dorm. Seems our gear arrived from Kurosawa-san, because it was sitting by the door. Must've gotten here recently. No surprise it wasn't picked up though, because the only person in the lobby was Junpei, sleeping on the couch.

"Wake up." I remarked, throwing a Camo Shirt in his face.

"Mmm, 5 more minutes..." he mumbled in his sleep.

"JUNPEI!" I screamed in his ear.

"AGH!" He flailed like a fish out of water, unfil falling off the couch. "I'm up!" I couldn't contain my laughter, and Junpei noticed. "Oh you asshole." he repsonded, then noticing the Camo Shirt. "What's this?"

"Armor." I replied, handing him the Gladius. "And here's a new sword. We're heading to Tarturus tonight."

"Heh, alright then, thanks dude." Junpei smirked.

"You know where Yukari is?"

"I think she's studying up in her room.

"Well, when she comes down, tell her the plan."

"What plan?"

I turned around and saw Akihiko coming through the doorway. "Oh, hey Akihiko-senpai." Junpei greeted, while I simply waved.

"I was just telling Junpei to let Yukari know I'm planning a Tarturus trip tonight."

"Oh, alright then, I'll let Mitsuru know."

"Ok, thanks senpai." I said as I walked out the door. I had an appointment later tonight after all.

So I spent a few hours at Paulownia Mall, hanging at Chagall Cafe and playing the claw machine in front of the arcade to win a Jack Frost doll (Boy was _that_ difficult), and finally spending some time at the music shop. Some good selections, both foreign and local. I bought myself a Lotus Juice album, since it had a few of my favorites of their's on it, and looked at my MP3 player. 9:00. He should defininetly be here by now. Sure enough, walking out the door, there he is standing in front of the arcade. He noticed me and walked up to me, still with that fake smile of his.

"Oh, there you are! I've been looking all over for you." Mmhm. _Suuuure_ you have. "Your investment isn't running as smoothly as we'd hoped." Sure it isn't. "It still has the potential to turn a profit, of course, but I would unfortunately require another 10,000 yen investment." Of course you would. "What do you say?" He held his hand out like a beggar.

I sighed, disappointed at the fact that he's not smart enough to notice I don't buy any of this. Might as well keep up appearances. "Sure, ok! As long as it helps me get my money!"

He chuckled as I handed him the 10,000 yen. Yeah, he tried to hide it, but I caught it. "I'll be in touch, young man." He walked away, though again, I heard him mumble "sucker" underneath his breath. I sighed, and began to turn and walk back out.

"You there, with the blue hair."

I turned towards the sound of the voice and found the blue haired boy I saw yesterday motioning towards me. "I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

Perplexed, though also intrigued, I walked over to where he was-

My eyes went wide.

Oh.

Oh my.

Well _that_ is certainly interesting. But my only question is _how_?

"Is something the matter?"

Oh you bet your ass something's the matter.

Because right above the boy's head, right next to his Fortune Arcana card, was a goddamn Persona.

Oh it was hidden deep. I had to focus even harder than I did with S.E.E.S. to even keep it around. It was hidden so deep I couldn't find it's name or abilities, and I doubt he's sensitive to the Dark Hour, despite the Persona being there. But it's there. And that's the most troublesome part.

 _How is it there!? Why did I not notice it yesterday!?_

"Are you alright?"

Oh, yeah. Still in reality land. He probably thinks I'm a goddamn weirdo now. Try to act natural. "Sorry, I just spaced out. Happens sometimes. What's up?"

"Well..." the boy attempted to regain his composure. I'd be uncomfortable too if I was him. He cleared his throat. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about your conversation with the suited gentleman a minute ago."

"Alright, shoot."

"You are aware that man is a con artist, correct?"

I laughed lightly. "Yeah, it's not hard to see that, dude."

"Yes, well, I was wondering if you wanted to help me put an end to his actions?"

"What did you have in mind?"

So I made an... interesting acquiantence, and a salivating plan with him tomorrow night. I say interesting because I noticed something else peculiar about him besides his Persona, but... well, it's probably not my place to judge. Anyways, it's a great plan for that smug bastard, and it'll help get my money back, so that's a win/win. With that out of the way, I finally made it back to the dorm, with Akihiko chastising me on where I've been. I kinda brushed him off, saying I was hanging at the mall (technically true), and then I sat down to have a nice quick, easy dinner. Ham and cheese sandwich: not the ordinary Japanese dinner, I know, but hey, dad always wanted me to develop tastes outside of Japan. I ate the sandwich in silence, before going up to my room and setting an alarm for 11:15. Yeah, that's early, even for getting to Tarturus, and I would only get an hour of sleep, but I do well with qucik naps and waking up a bit early would get me ready in time for the trek.

 _ **Doooo you have the time?**_

 _ **To listen to me- *beep***_

Why did _that_ play? I thought I set Tank as the alarm.

Anyways, on the way to Tarturus, I got asked an odd question by Yukari.

"Hey Minato?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you buy new gear for us?"

"Simple. New gear means better offense and defense, which means easier time against the Shadows." Duh.

Yukari facepalmed. "That's not what I meant. I meant _why_ did _you_ buy the gear?"

"What's it matter, Yuka-tan?" Junpei interjected, with a somewhat annoyed tone. "We got some new stuff that'll help against the Shadows!"

Yukari sighed. "I just... look never mind then."

"No, no, I get what you're saying Yukari." I responded. "I bought us new gear because, as the field leader, I am taking full responsibility for anything that happens in battle, so it is my job to keep us well equipped and well prepared for the challenges ahead. You see?"

Yukari thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I can see that."

"Good, now let's go."

Nothing too interesting happened in the battles that followed. Mitsuru allowed us to head up the stairs, and start fully exploring the tower to the best of our ability. Yukari found another briefcase of yen, and I found a briefcase that had a simple medicine bottle in it. The mundane continued, support from Mitsuru allowed us to easily take any of the Shadows we came across, and Orpheus even learned a skill called Tarunda, which according to Mitsuru allows me to lower an enemy's attack power. Sweetness. I also was able to collect another Persona, apparently called Apsaras, which looked like some sort of blue woman. But once we hit the fourth floor, things got _reeeal_ hectic.

"That's a rare form, don't let it get away!" Mitsuru suddenly yelled in my ear. It took me a second to search, but I noticed a golden hand-like creature just walking around the corridor, sparkling in the darkness. I stopped Yukari and Junpei, thankful the Shadow had yet to notice us. I began to formulate a plan.

"Ok, Yukari, I need you to hit it with an arrow. It'll never see it coming and we'll catch it off guard. Junpei, you follow up with an Agi, while I rush in and try to beat it down with Bash."

"Got it."

"Alright, sure!"

"On three."

We crept slowly, quietly in the darkness, attempting to get a good angle on the Shadow. Junpei and I had already withdrawn our Evokers, and Yukari had stealthfully drawn her bow.

"THREE!"

The sudden shout did alert the Shadow, yes, but that was part of my plan. It caught the Shadow off guard, with Yukari driving an arrow right where a normal person's knuckle would be on their middle finger. And since this thing seems to be using fingers as legs, targeting them would be a great idea.

"HERMES!" _**BANG**_

The fireball that came from the darkness was easily avoided by the gold hand, which really made this next part a slightly worse idea.

"RRRGH!" I ran full speed towards the hand, summoning Orpheus along the way. Orpheus raised it's lyre, and attempted to squash the Shadow down hard. Unfortunately, "attempt" is the key word there, as it was easily able to dodge The Instrument of Mass Destruction, as I so eloquently called it. It was then that the Shadow high tailed it out of there with amazing speed. We attempted to chase after it, but gave up shortly after we began.

I huffed and puffed (didn't blow any houses down, sadly), attempting to catch my breath. The others seemed as disappointed as I was that we had been unable to kill such a seemingly weak Shadow. I guess appearances can be deceiving. Before I was able to rally the team, however, Mitsuru again screamed in my ear. And this time it sent a chill down our spines, as the normally calm and collected Mitsuru Kirijo was screaming in pure fear.

 **"I SENSE DEATH, GET OUT OF THERE!"**

We had no idea what that meant, but man were we panicking and searching for the Access Point.

"I CAN'T FIND THE ACCESS POINT!" Junpei screamed out. It felt like forever we searched that damn 4th floor, but no access point was found. Of course, we were all panicking. But even that fear didn't compare to what we felt soon after.

 ***clink***

 ***clink***

 ***clink***

 ***clink***

The horrifying sound of chains slowly being dragged across the floor, edging ever closer to our position. The atmosphere was one of horror: squeezing the air out of our lungs with pure pressure.

We _needed_ to get out of there.

If we had any sort of collected thoughts before, were they all gone straight out the window at that moment. We ran for our lives, searching any nook and cranny, whether we'd already looked there or not, just hoping, _begging_ for that familar flash of green. We had all gone our seperate ways, which in theory is a horrible idea, but again, panic is a bitch.

"GUYS, I FOUND IT!" Yukari exclaimed. While Junpei and I quickly found each other, Yukari seemed to be a few corridors down.

"JUST GO NOW!" I yelled in response. But I wasn't even able to make out her response.

 ***CLINK***

 ***CLINK***

 ***CLINK***

 ***CLINK***

It was close. Too close. Luckily, we had found the corridor the Access Point was housed, but we still had to get to it.

And then it turned the corner.

Wrapped in chains, floating, a pure monstrosity at its finest. On it's sides housed two giant long barreled revolvers. One look at this thing told the entire story.

This was Death.

And we were going to die.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: CLIFFHANGER! Ha ha, I've been planning that particular moment since the start of this story! I hope it had the desired effect, cause man that's basically exactly what happened to me the first time I encountered The Reaper: pure panic., and so I think I got that down pretty well. Introduced to the Hand enemies, and Minato has Apsaras, which means he now has access to Cadenza! Will it come into play here? I dunno. (I totally do, but you don't :D)**_

 _ **See ya next time, peoples!**_


	13. Chapter 13: Unlucky 13

_**RosyMiranto18: It could be Naoto, it could be some other blue haired character in the Shin Megami Tensei universe. It could be the protagonist of Devil Survivor. You'll just have to wait and see. :)**_

 _ **With that out of the way, ONTO THE CHAPTER!**_

* * *

Junpei and I were going to die. There's no use denying it. This fucking monster of a Shadow, Death Incarnate, was standing between us and the Access Point. If we fight this thing, we lose, no question. This thing is so goddamn powerful it's mere precense was inducing a feeling, not unlike that of Dragon Ball Z, where Goku goes to King Kai's planet for the first time and the gravity is crushing him.

Difference is, Goku overcame that. There's no way we could.

With Junpei motionless in sheer terror, and this... _thing_ slowly creeping ever so closer to us, taunting us. It knew we knew, and it was savoring the moment.

" **ARISATO, IORI, GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE NOW! FIND THE STAIRS!** " Mitsuru screamed. Not ordered, screamed. She was scared to death. as were we.

And as I stared the beast down, likely my final sight, I heard something.

 ***CRASH***

But time didn't stop. No Social Link leveled up. But I did hear a voice.

 **"With the combined power of Orpheus and Apsaras, you may cast the Fusion Spell 'Cadenza'."**

Way to tell me a little too late there, voice.

But maybe this 'Cadenza' will be able to kill this thing?

Fuck it, if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die _my_ way. Taking risks.

"Minato, what are we going to do?" Junpei asked, fear in his voice.

"Don't worry. I have a plan." I confidently grinned. False confidence is better than none, especially when you've been given a chance, a miniscule chance, of surviving a sure death situation.

I raised my Evoker to my skull. The beast raised his revolver to my body.

 **"CADENZA!"**

 ***BANG BANG***

And as the energy surronded myself and Junpei, the monster lowered his weapon, just a tad in curiosity. A song could be heard, the skillful mastery of Orpheus' lyre, and a beautiful voice, most likely Apsaras. And suddenly I felt rejuvinated, as did Junpei when I shared a glance with him. And I felt faster. A lot faster. A hell of a lot faster. I eyed this Shadow down, as his interest quickly waned, and found a soft spot in his approach. A gap on his right side large enough for Junpei to run past.

"Junpei." I whispered. "When I say 'go', you run for it past him through his right side, your left. Don't stop, don't look back, just go through the Access Point. I'll find the one on the next floor."

"Minato, dude, it'll kill you!" Junpei cried.

"Better me than you." I coldly responded, again raising my Evoker to my head. "GO!"

 ***BANG***

As I summoned Orpheus, I saw Junpei make a run for it, his increased speed able to get him past an unsuspecting whatever the hell this thing is. But it quickly noticed, and aimed its revolver.

"NO!" I screamed, and commanded Orpheus to Bash it, in an attempt to get its focus back on me. It didn't work, barely even phased the thing, but the slight nudge caused its HUGE FUCKING BULLET to be off target. It began to give chase for Junpei.

"Shitshitshitshit! Mitsuru-senpai, let me know if Junpei makes it through the Access Point, I'm going to find the stairs!" I yelled in panic while beginning my escape. I had barely even gotten around the corner when I heard a huge BANG and the sound of an explosion behind me to my left, the feeling of fire hotter than hell.

No time to look back, find the stairs.

 **"Iori has made it through the Access Point!"** Mitsuru proclaimed. **"Arisato, what is your status!?"**

"Uh, big fucking Shadow is firing at me and chasing me, but they're all near misses, senpai!"

 **"The stairs are 30 feet away to your left, hurry!"** Mitsuru fearfully exclaimed.

And so I ran faster then I even thought I could, in a zig zag pattern in an effort to make sure I wasn't struck by a surefire killshot. With 15 feet to go, I could feel the triumph in my heart, until I started slowing down. Apparently whatever the hell Cadenza did was starting to wear off.

"Shitshitshitnonononono! Come on, come on!" I attempted to power through.

5 feet left.

 ***BANG***

 ***CRASH***

 **"AGHHH!"** The pain was horrific, worse than anything I'd ever felt before. The shot didn't hit me, but it hit right behind me and sent volts right through my entire body. It launched me forward, into the staircase room. I wasn't dead, but I was damn sure close enough.

I could hear Mitsuru screaming in my ear, but I couldn't make out the words she was saying. I attempted to stand, despite my battered and broken body.

And then I realized I couldn't.

I was paralyzed from the waist down. The electricity cut off the use of my legs.

I looked at the stairs for half a second. There's no goddamn way I could make it to the Access Point.

I was a sitting duck. Dead in the water.

And it rounded the corner. I closed my eyes, and I awaited the inevitable embrace of death.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But it never came.

Confused. Terrified. These were the two emotions I was feeling at the time. Why wasn't I dead? I looked back to the monster and it was just floating there, just outside the room. Doing nothing. Floating there.

"Ha. Haha." I began laughing, purely because if I wasn't I'd be crying. He was just floating there.

 _ **"You have reached the safety zone."**_

Oh I stopped laughing there.

I stopped laughing and quickly grew an expression of pure terror.

He was speaking to me.

 _ **"You win this round, Fool. I shall leave you and your companions to your own devices for now."**_

He was letting me go.

He was letting _us_ go.

 _ **"But know that next time, I will not go so easy on you."**_

Excuse me?

 _ **"I bid you farewell."**_

And before I could even fathom what just happened to me, he just flew up and phased through the ceiling.

And so I was left there. Unable to move. There's no goddamn way I'm crawling up these stairs to an Access Point. The Shadows on the next floor would eat me alive. And if I somehow were able to avoid the Shadows, the Dark Hour would most certainly end before I made it. And I did not want to find out what happens to Tarturus when the Dark Hour ends.

* * *

 **"Arisato, can you hear me!?"**

Oh, right. Honestly, after Junpei made it, I kind of just let myself forget about them as I worried about escaping. "Y-yeah, sen- oh fuck." I groaned in pain.

 **"Are you alright!?"** She exclaimed in horror. **"Were you able to escape the Reaper? I no longer sense him."**

So that's what it's called. How fitting. "Kind of, but I-" I inhaled sharply as the pain coursed through my body. "I can't stand, I need some help."

 **"I'll send Takeba and Iori in, there are no Shadows on this floor. They should reach you soon."**

Thank god.

 **"But what did you mean you were 'Kind of' able to escape the Reaper?"**

Honestly I forgot I even said that. "After his last attack hit," I slowly said as the pain continued its unwanted voyage through my nervous system "I was launched into this room. He stopped here in front of the room and told me I'd reached the 'Safe zone', and that he was letting us go for now."

There was simply silence on the other end for what felt like minutes. Obviously Mitsuru was thinking long and hard about this situation, which I believe she found as unbelievable as I did, even though it just happened.

 **"Takeba and Iori are almost there. Stay with us, Arisato."**

It's not like I was dying, but I can absolutely understand her fear. She doesn't know that I'm not on the verge of death. The inexperienced field leader, only in this position because no one else was right for the job, had just faced down the Reaper. And only barely survived because he reached a sort of "safe zone", like it was some kind of game.

A game of life or death.

"Oh god, Minato!"

"Minato!"

I could hear the shouts of Yukari and Junpei. Yukari's suggested that I was actually in some bad shape.

"IO!"

And though the Dia from Io had helped reduce the pain, I still found myself unable to stand. Apparently not even Dia can heal all injuries.

"Shit." I muttered at the revelation, before being hoisted upwards and having both my arms wrapped around Junpei and Yukari. Have you ever seen that American professional wrestling match where the one guy broke the other guy's neck and had to be helped to the back, feet dragging behind him? Yeah, that's exactly what that looked like.

Luckily, we made it through the Access Point and out of Tarturus, with a few minutes to spare. The only words spoken were that Mitsuru told me I needed to go to the hospital, and after I had recovered (which according to hear was a guarantee) she wanted to speak to me. I tiredly obliged, because I don't know about you, but man, running for your life, being electrocuted, and being paralyzed from the waist down really takes it out of you.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Short chapter is short, yeah, but holy shit was this action packed or what!? I figured this was the perfect Chapter 13. Any other chapter would've been longer, believe me. So that's how S.E.E.S. first encounter with the Reaper went, with Minato hospitalized again! How do you like my take on the Reaper, as well? And I decided to use the fact that the Reaper can use Agidyne, Ziodyne, Bufudyne, and Garudyne, and change them into bullet types for him, to make it more interesting and more dangerous! Now yes, a Ziodyne bullet that close to Minato didn't kill him, but as you can see it caused some severe damage, Minato has a lot of endurance and guts, so that's why it wasn't fatal. If it had been a full on hit, there's no way I could've written a believable way for him to survive. Also, any wrestling fans, can you guess which wrestling match I was referencing? Correct answer gets one million points and a cookie! See ya next time, peoples!**_


	14. Chapter 14: Recovery

_**Nightlly: Yes, I was referencing "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs the late great Owen Hart at Summerslam 1997. One of the most horrific injuries I've ever seen in my many years of being a wrestling fan, even worse when you hear from Austin himself in his autobiography that he was uncomfortable taking the piledriver, but Owen assured him it was safe. Quite a scary moment, even 20 years later. You win one million points, which sadly work on "Whose Line Is It Anyway" rules where the points don't matter. But if you look in your cookie jar, you should find an actual cookie! :D**_

* * *

"So you're telling me this hospital is run by the Kirijo group?" I asked Mitsuru, while being checked into Tatsumi Memorial Hospital for the second time this month.

"Yes." She answered matter of factly.

"And the staff assigned to me know about Personas and the Dark Hour?"

"That is correct, as I've already stated."

"Well I'm still a little dazed from that _thing_ " I spoke venomously "in Tarturus. You called it the Reaper?"

"Yes." She responded grimly. "It is without a doubt the most powerful Shadow ever encountered. There has been no Persona user able to escape from a battle with it." She looked at me, with some glint of... was that pride? "Until you, Arisato."

"Heh, chalk that up on the long, long list of firsts in my life." I chuckled. My thoughts began to wander at that point, and I asked the first thing that came to mind. "How long will I be like this?"

"I've no doubt that the longest you'll be incapacitated will be one week. I predict 2-3 days at best, with the doctor that's been specially assigned to S.E.E.S." Mitsuru calmly responded.

2-3 days without being able to walk properly. At best. Sure, that sounds amazing, if you had your neck broken, but I didn't. I was paralyzed from the fucking Reaper's electric bullet of doom and chaos, and with the Shadows out and about, _I could not afford to be paralyzed dammit_.

"I'm not staying in this hospital like last time, you know."

Mitsuru seemed to be caught off guard, while Yukari and Junpei simply looked at each other. So I continued.

"They're gonna do their little treatment for Persona users, correct?" She nodded. "Once their done, I'm going back to the dorm."

Mitsuru attempted an arguement, but I was hot after nearly losing my life. "I'm not going to just sit on my ass for however long I'll be cooped up. We need to discuss last night's events as soon as possible. We need to make plans for that Reaper thing for next time. And I made plans for tonight at Paulownia Mall, and I don't go back on my word, senpai." I stated with as much passion as I could.

The silence in my hospital room was deafening. Clearly it was unexpected that I would argue like that, but I can't afford to just sit on my ass and do nothing. I have friends to hang out with, Social Links to level up, and preperations to be made, dammit.

"Minato, I think it would be best if you-" Yukari was cut off by two voices entering my room.

"My word, are you alright?" Ikutsuki spoke with shock in his voice. I'm guessing Mitsuru must've called him, but didn't tell him what actually happened.

"You look like hell. What happened?" Akihiko asked with a tinge of regret in his voice.

Mitsuru gave the down low on the night's events, as the events had finally caught up to me, and the surge of tiredness hit me like a truck. But then the interesting happened.

"Thanks for saving me, dude." Junpei sadly stated.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help, but you saved my life again." Yukari spoke.

"I'm truly sorry you had to suffer through this." The regret in Ikutsuki's voice was powerful. He felt terrible about this.

"If only I wasn't injured..." Akihiko solemnly remarked, before looking me in the eyes. "Next time it won't happen again."

"You've proven to be a reckless combatant, Arisato." Mitsuru softly glared at me. "...But the determination to save your teamates in an hour of desperation is admirable and comendable."

As they each walked out of my room, the doctor stepped in, but before a single word could be uttered-

 ***CRASH***

THE SOUND OF A THOUSAND WINDOWS SHATTERING, JESUS FUCK!

 **"Thou hast forged a new bond, and strengthend others.**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create Personas of the Magician, Lovers, Star, Fool, and Devil Arcana"**

Note to self, never level up multiple Social Links at the same time.

Wait, did the voices say "Devil"?

...I'll think about it later...

...sleep...

* * *

So apparently the doctor never did explain to me what he did while I was asleep. Well, I mean, he did, but he never made it _easy_ to understand. He said it was a simple procedure, and stated he used elctromagnetism to reactivate the nerves in my legs. That made no sense whatsoever, but hey I could walk!

...Albeit with crutches for the time being.

"I expect the recovery time will take at most a week." The doc calmly stated. "You Persona users are well known for the durability your Personas provide your body, among those that are aware of your existence, of course." He chuckled. "Do you happen to have a Persona with healing capabilities?"

"Uh, yeah..." I cautiously replied.

He smiled. "Well, then your recovery time has jumped up tremondously. The Kirijo group has taught us of the healing spells Personas may use." With the confusion on my face he continued. "If you were to use the spell Dia once a day on your legs, you'll be fully recovered by Wednesday morning. A full level Diarahan right now would cure you instantly."

"I was given a Dia in Tarturus, does that count for today?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I'd recommend you apply one more to your legs later today, I'd recommend this afternoon, and all should be well by Thursday, if you keep the schedule up."

I nodded and shook the doctor's hand. I was handed my crutches by the nurse. And my phone started ringing.

 _ **Kikoeteru uta ga kokoro wo yurugasete**_

 _ **kokoro ga kezurete-**_

A nurse was kind enough to hand me my phone fairly quickly. "Hello?" I asked.

" _Hey, Minato._ "

"Oh, hey Akihiko-senpai, what's up?"

" _Mitsuru is having one of her drivers come pick you up and bring you back to the dorm. He should be there in about 10 minutes._ "

"Oh, wow." I was caught a little off guard. How kind of Mitsuru. "Tell her I said thanks."

" _Alright, will do, Minato. She also wants to speak to you once you get back._ "

I sighed. "I figured."

"Is that Sanada-san you're speaking to?" The doctor asked me.

"Um, yes sir." I responded.

"Tell that young man he needs to come in for a checkup this Friday." The doctor firmly requested.

"Hey, Akihiko, the doctor said he wants you to come in for a checkup this Friday."

A long, irritated sigh came from the other end of the call. " _Alright, tell Yoshiki-san I'll be there. See you soon, Minato._ "

 ***click***

"I swear, that young man truly needs to watch out for himself." Yoshiki-san stated. "He's been avoiding me ever since his injury, and I've no doubt he's aggrevated it further since."

"You should have more confidence in Akihiko-senpai." I responded with a grin. "He's smarter than that, I'm sure."

"You may be right, young man, but I'm still concerned over his recklessness." Yoshiki-san reponded with a respectful, yet slightly sad tone. "Anyways, you should probably get going. I wouldn't want to keep you here any longer than necessary. I'd like you to come back Friday for a simple checkup, as well." He stated kindly, yet firmly.

"Will do, Yoshiki-san." I stated as I walked out of the room.

* * *

So as I walked out of the hospital, I noticed a freaking limo pull up. You're kidding me.

The driver stepped out and up to me. "Minato Arisato, I presume?"

I was dumbfounded. She sent a _goddamn limo_. I nodded.

"Very well, sir, allow me."

And the guy just gently helped me into the limo.

And then we started off to the dormatories.

And I was still dumbfounded. But I was taken out of it by an email I received.

 _Hey dude, class has already started. Toriumi-sensei wants to know why you aren't here._  
 _-Kenji_

Did Junpei give him my email? And then I realized I was late for school. Fuck. I emailed back.

 _Can't make it to school today. Tell Toriumi-sensei I'll explain on Tuesday. You'll see why tomorrow._  
 _-MA_

Yeah my signature is "MA", like you have anything better.

So after that I kinda had no idea what to do, so I lowered the screen... thing, that seperates the driver from the passenger.

"Is there a problem, sir?" He asked. Gotta admit, I'm really liking this guy's politeness.

"No, I was just wondering: why did Mitsuru-senpai send a limo? No offense."

"None taken, sir. She stated that she wished for you to travel in comfort from the hospital, after your injuries last night."

What. "...So you know of those too, huh?"

"Of course, sir. There is only a very small fraction of those in the Kirijo group who _aren't_ aware of the Persona ability. There are more, however, that aren't aware of the Dark Hour."

Ah. That's... interesting. Why do so many in the Kirijo group know about Personas?

"Well I really appreciate senpai doing this for me."

"It's no trouble at all, sir. We should be arriving at the dormatories in just a few short moments."

Sure enough, in about 30 seconds we were out front of the dorm. The driver once again helped me out of the limo, and even held the door open for me.

"Thanks a lot, sir. I never caught your name?"

"The name's Satoshi Morishige, sir."

"Morishige? Do you happen to have a son named Hideo?"

"You know my son?"

"Beat him in 22 seconds to earn my spot in Gekkoukan's MMA club. He's a good kid, got some potential according to Coach, he's just a tad bit arrogant."

"Ah yes, he told me about that." He stuck out his hand. This seems to be a theme with damn near everyone I meet and _don't_ hate. "Allow me to congratulate you on your feat." I returned the gesture kindly.

"Much obliged, sir. Have a good day."

"The same to you, sir."

I watched him walk off and get in the limo. Good guy. Surprised I didn't form a Social Link with him, until I found out his Arcana: Star. Seems I can't form a Link with more than one person of an Arcana. That's a shame.

...Why am I thinking like that?

* * *

Akihiko happened to be in the lobby, where he helped escort me to the command room. I would've put something smart and sarcastic after that last sentence, but I legitametely need the assitance. As I crutch-walked myself in, I noticed both Ikutsuki and Mitsuru-senpai were there, and I sat myself down on the seat next to Akihiko,

"Before we get down to the real meat of this discussion," Ikutsuki began "I'd like to personally give you my full condolences for these injuries." I turned to Akihiko, who nodded.

"Regardless," Mitsuru cut in "I'd like to get right down to business. During your confrontation with the Reaper, you were able to cast both a healing spell and a Masukukaja. Orpheus knows neither of these skills. How did you do it?"

"Wait, he did what!?" Akihiko shouted in surprise before staring at me. I sighed, and grabbed my Evoker.

"APSARAS!" _**BANG**_

Collective gasps, and after that you could hear a goddamn pin drop three miles down the road.

"Is that..." Ikutsuki was nearly speechless, unable to finish his sentence.

"A second Persona?" Luckily, Akihiko finished it for him. Mitsuru was dumbfounded.

"How!? How is this possible!? Nobody should have more than one Persona!"

"I have a third, actually..."

The three just stared, so I grabbed the Evoker again.

"PIXIE!" _**BANG**_

I finally got a look at Pixie, and oh my she was adorable! Just the absolute cutest thing imaginable, just buzzing around my head, before finally settling on my shoulder.

"Arisato..." Mitsuru was trying so hard to keep her lost composure, it was pretty entertaining seeing the normally calm and collected Mitsuru at a loss for words. "Arisato, where did you get these Personas from? How are you able to hold more than one!?"

Oh boy. How am I gonna explain it, when I barely understand any of it myself?

"The truth is... I really don't know how."

"And how long have you been aware of this ability?" Ikutsuki calmly asked.

"Since our first trip to Tarturus, when I got Pixie." I admitted.

"And you chose to keep this information hidden!?" Mitsuru was angry now.

"Mitsuru, calm-" Akihiko was cut off by my response.

"Look, I'm learning about my abilities through experimentation and good old fashioned guess work, just a tiny bit faster than you, yes, but still around the same time! I don't know why I can do this, I just can, and if it helps take out those goddamn abominations, I'll abuse every power I can learn! If it means keeping my abilites hidden from others until the right time, damn right I will! Now good day!"

I picked up my crutches and slowly, carefully made my way back to my room, where I just sat back and played some games for a while, finally beat Golden Testament but got my ass handed to me by Golden Dizzy because fuck Minato, right? Played some music, listened to some music, and took a nap. I really don't understand why I snapped like that, but again, nearly dying really fucks your system over. It's probably that.

* * *

I actually woke up around 7:30, and figured I should probably head to Paulownia Mall. I silently walked out of the dorm, Junpei offering to accompany me and make sure everything goes alright. I should be offended that everybody is trying to help me, assuming I can't do anything on my own right now, but honestly, I let him come along mainly because it would be nice to have company while I wait for Mr. Con Artist and the blue haired Persona dude.

After hanging together for an hour and a half, I sat down at the usual spot next to the fountain, Junpei sitting with me.

"Hey Minato, why do you like to come here so late at night, anyways?"

"I'm not planning on making it a habit, but you'll see why here in a few minutes." I said as I glanced at my MP3 player. 9:04. Should be here any moment.

"I'm surprised you've arrived tonight."

Well, well, Blue Hair arrived just in time. Ooh, that's a nice hat. "Why's that?" I chuckled.

"You seem to be in an unfortunate condition." Blue Hair responded, glancing at my crutches.

"Just got shocked last night. Not life threatening, but it did mess with my nerves in my legs. Should be walking properly within a week."

"Um, Minato, who's your friend?" Junpei asked, confused.

"Ah, I forgot that I never did introduce myself. My name is-"

"Hold on just one second, dude, we got business to take care of first." I stealthfully pointed towards the Paulownia Mall entrance way, as Mr. Con Artist himself came strolling through like he owned the place. "You got the mic?"

I was handed a microphone, like those ones you see on crime shows and shit where they're hard to notice unless your really looking for it. With that out of the way, Blue Hair took Junpei along to the police station, likely explaining the entire plan to him along the way. I placed and activated the mic, and continued to just sit there, acting innocent and carefree, and not at all aware that you are approaching me once again good sir.

"I was looking everywhere for you, young man."

"I'm not too hard to spot, sir."

"Yes, well, I'm afraid your investment has gone from bad to worse."

"No way! You're kidding!" I feigned surprise and slight anger. He bought it.

"I'm afraid I'm not. However, there is still a chance to turn it around, if you were to provide one more investment of 10,000 yen."

"Deal!" I feigned eagerness. He still bought it. This guy would be terrible at poker. I handed him the 10,000 yen, and he began chuckling like a madman. Without him noticing, I edged a little close to him, just to make sure what I picked up was better quality.

"Ah, you poor, naive fool." He smiled a geniune smug smile. "You have no idea what's just happened."

"Huh?" I played dumb. Even a 5 year old wouldn't buy this act.

"You've been hoodwinked, my boy! Bamboozled, scammed, conned! That 40,000 yen you 'invested'? Gone, never to see the light of day!" He full out laughed this time, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye some activity. "But... since I feel sorry for you and your naivety, I'll take you on as my apprentice, teach you the tricks of the trade, and truly help you become wealthy beyond your wildest fantasies! What do you say, my boy?"

"I say I'd accept... if I were going to jail with you." I smugly grinned. The man turned around in horror to find Kurosawa-san flanked by Blue Hair and Junpei. I left the rest to Kurosawa-san, and walked off to a less crowded spot in the mall to discuss the events.

"What just happened!?" Junpei increduously asked.

"Alright, so that guy, two days ago asked me for a 20,000 yen investment. I could tell immediately he was a fraud, but decided to play along because of interest. Last night, I met this guy" I casually pointed at Blue Hair "and we made the plan to get that guy off the streets. By the way, here's your mic back." I pulled it out and handed it to him.

"Much obliged."

"But you still haven't told us who you are." Junpei pointed out.

"Ah yes, I do believe after all this, proper introductions are in order. My name is Naoto Shirogane."

"Well, Shirogane-san, my name is Minato Arisato, and this is Junpei Iori."

"Hey, how ya doin'?" Junpei sheepishly asked.

"Let's meet up again, sometime." I said, extending my hand. Gotta stop with this habit.

"While I'm not against the idea, I'm afraid it's more than likely I'll have to decline your offer." Naoto responded, lightly shaking mine and Junpei's hands before getting up to leave. "I must be getting back to my grandfather's. Very nice to meet you, Arisato-san, and Iori-san. Take care."

"Hope to see you later, Naoto-san!" I called as Naoto left the mall.

 ***CRASH***

I guarantee you this is the Fortune Arcana.

 **"Thou art I.**

 **And I art thou.**

 **Thou hast established a new bond.**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fortune Arcana."**

FUCKING CALLED IT!

"By the way, Junpei."

"Yeah?"

"You know Naoto's a girl, right?"

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: I'm am like 95% sure that in the game Tatsumi Memorial is run by the Kirijo group, with a decent number of doctor's knowing of Persona and the Dark Hour, which is why I had the hospital scene take place. So a lot of stuff just took place. Mitsuru is angry at the fact that Minato kept his ability hidden, and I've officially given a reason for Minato to come see Akihiko at the hospital, because honestly I was not a fan of that scene where it's like "Oh, you gotta come see Akihiko-senpai because wah wah wah!" I have more important things to do, Yukari! And finally, the cameo reveals itself: Naoto Shirogane herself is the Fortune Social Link! Bet you never saw that coming, did ya!? I've got the basic plotline of the Link figured out, and lemme tell ya, it's totally helping set up Persona 4! It may be a little out of character at times, but hey, I'm trying to set up my own Persona universe, cut me some slack lol! That last conversation in the chapter: Totally inspired by AFNFRS. Finally, can you guess what Minato's ringtone was? Here's a hint: It's from one of the earlier Persona games! See ya next time, peoples!**_


	15. Chapter 15: Ghosts n' Stuff

_**RosyMiranto18: Trust me, this Persona 3 fic is not going to be like the canon story. Why'd I make Naoto the Fortune Social Link? Well, in a non spoiler answer, it's because I knew it would get that sort of reaction. Never read Arisato Twins, but I might give it a shot. I have plans for Ryoji, trust me. Once again, I'm kind of twisting Persona 3 into something barely recognizable, and I'm starting to like this direction a lot more.**_

 _ **I imagine one thousand windows shattering is kind of what leveling multiple Links up at the same time sounds like, but I wouldn't know, because I'm not a Wild Card. And the Devil Social Link? Totally Ikutsuki. Come on, look at that guy and tell me he wouldn't be a Devil. I've got very exciting, interesting, and just flat out insane plans for Ikutsuki's Link, mainly the end. Actually, only the end will be exciting. Ikutsuki will level up alongside S.E.E.S. whenever he's there, I'm not creative enough to think of original conversations for him specifically.**_

 _ **Minato will reveal that eventually. I'm planning on making a sequel for Inaba, and yeah, Naoto's characterization there will be determined here. Don't be alarmed if I end up making Naoto less canonlike, again, I'm trying to make this stuff my own little beast.**_

 _ **PS: Yep, Kimi no Tonari! Fantastic song!**_

* * *

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Junpei's shocked face? Cause I really, really do.

So it was about a quarter 'till 10 when we got back from the dorm. Mitsuru happened to be sitting in the lobby, so I decided to ask her what the plan is about Tarturus while I'm recupirating.

"I plan on quick, short training segments, lasting perhaps twenty minutes of the Dark Hour. Takeba and Iori will explore one or two floors, and if there's any sort of danger they will exit immediately."

"Sounds good to me. Who knows if, or even when one of those big fuckers shows up again? We need all the training we can get."

"Yes." Mitsuru solemnly agreed. I internally vowed to figure out as much as I can about this power I have, and Junpei helped me up to my room.

"Do you really think me and Yuka-tan can explore the place all by ourselves?" Junpei asked as we were walking back to my room.

"If you're worried, remember, it's only for a couple days. But I have total confidence in you and Yukari, dude. You saw what you did to that Shadow the first time we went in there!"

"Heh, yeah..." Junpei shyly grinned.

"I mean it, dude. You've got so much raw power it's terrifying honestly." I grinned. "Remind me not to get in a fight with you anytime soon."

"Aw come on, Minato, you know you'd kick my ass!" Junpei grinned as well.

"You hit me with one good shot and I'm out. Trust me, bro. And Yukari's no slouch either. What she lacks in power she makes up for in precision. You saw how easily she fired that bow through the one Shadow's eye last night, while being chased by three others! And she has healing capabilities."

Junpei seemed to be thinking hard about my words. "And just remember, you've got Mitsuru as support. They survived without me before, they can do it again. Now come on, I need to show you something." I motioned him to follow me into my room.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Junpei laughed as I summoned Pixie, as I honestly forgot to give myself a Dia this afternoon.

"Shut up, dude, she's adorable."

Junpei just laughed even harder. Pixie landed on my shoulder and pouted. Even her pouts are cute, I love this Persona.

"Ok, ok..." Junpei calmed down as I asked Pixie to cast Dia. "But seriously bro, what the hell?"

"Apparently I can summon more than one Persona. I'm still figuring out the details myself, but that shit I pulled against the Reaper to get you out of there? That was Cadenza, a Fusion Spell between Orpheus and the other Persona I have, Apsaras. I had no idea what it would do."

"Dude..." Junpei stood there in awe.

"But yeah, that's the story. Mitsuru-senpai got pissed, but she seems to have calmed down. I'm actually going to use this time off to try to learn more about it. If I learn anything important, I'll let you guys know."

"Alright... alright man." Junpei still seemed in awe. "I'll see ya later." He walked out of the room, leaving me to my own devices. So obviously the proper thing to do was to practice for that fucking show Wednesday that I completely forgot about. I never mentioned it here, but I met with them a few times, and they seem to like the same shit I do (the bassist is actually American, so that helps), except for the vocalist, and we talked her into listening to this one song by a Canadian rock band and she actually agreed to sing it with us. I'm gonna hang with Kenji a bit tomorrow. and then practice with them.

So I grabbed my guitar and started strumming along to the song, when the Dark Hour hit what felt like a few minutes later, kinda ruining my mood. I put my guitar back in its case and then just raided my mini fridge for a Dr. Salt.

"Good evening."

I swiveled around in my chair as I almost spit out my drink to find that kid again, sitting on my bed. "Next time knock." I said in an amused tone. He chuckled.

"What a predicament you've found yourself in." he said, motioning towards my legs. He smiled. "Thankfully, it's only temporary, but that's not my cause of concern."

Hm? "Then what's up?"

"One week from today, you will encounter one of _**them**_." He said in a slightly menacing tone. "It will be one of many trials you will have to overcome."

Spooky. "What do you mean ' _ **Them**_ '?" I asked. He chuckled again.

"You've already encountered one of them." He responded. I went silent as I slowly came to the realization.

"You mean one of those big fuckers, don't you?" I asked. He nodded. Oh great, just peachy. Not only do we have to deal with the Shadows in Tarturus, but apparently one of their bosses or something is gonna show up next week.

"Kid, where do you get this info from?" I asked.

He seemed confused, like I had just asked him what does red taste like. "I... I don't know." he said sadly. "I just know that it's important information and I have to tell you. I'm not even sure what it means."

Alright, so if I'm _not_ insane in the membrane, that means that some supernatural force, most likely Igor, is using this poor ghost kid as some sort of messenger. That just isn't right.

"Hey, dude, it's all good." I smiled as he looked up at me. He may be a ghost kid, might even be a figment of my imagination, but he's still a kid dammit. "I'm just glad you came back. You're an alright kid by me, and I appreciate the advice you've given so far." He perked up a bunch. "Tell ya what, you can stick around with me for awhile. You said once you're 'Always with me', so let's make that happen. What do ya say?" I stuck out my hand. At this point I'm not even surprised at myself, or the fact that the kid politely shook it.

 ***CRASH***

 **"Thou art I.**

 **And I art thou.**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Death Arcana."**

"Hm, seems that information isn't the only thing you receive from me." the boy mused with a smile on his face.

"Hey, that's- Wait, you can hear those?"

* * *

So as ghost kid just sort of... disappeared after that, I decided to hit the sack. Got a big day tomorrow, after all. But when I woke up in the morning, I was greeted by an enjoyable sight.

"What are you doing?" I tiredly asked the ghost kid who was playing my PSP somehow.

"Hm? OH!" The poor kid quickly hid it behind his back like he was in trouble. I had to laugh at that.

"Nah dude, it's fine. I literally meant what were you doing? What were you playing?"

"..."

"Come on kid, you can tell me."

 ***Knock knock***

"Minato, who are you talking to?"

Holy shit I forgot it was morning. I did not expect Yukari to come to my door this morning.

"Uh... just my imaginary friend, Yukari."

There was a long silence at the door, while the little kid just looked hurt. I went to open my door, and surprised Yukari.

"How old are you again?" she asked in disbelief.

"Seventeen."

"Right... just making sure..." Yukari was so uncomfortable, but what the hell was I gonna tell her? I'm talking to a ghost kid? That would be even weirder. Actually...

"Would you believe me if I said it was a ghost kid?"

Yukari's face shot up, with obvious looks of shock, confusion and horror.

"G-ghost kid!? Don't be ridiculous, Minato!" She shoved me back into my room slightly. "T-there's no such thing as g-ghosts!" And with that she ran off.

Well. Now I know Yukari is terrified of ghosts. That'll make Halloween fun as hell.

"Imaginary friend...?" Oh shit, I forgot how upset he looked in all the excitement.

"Nah bud, it's just a lie I told. You saw her, she didn't even believe that there was a ghost here. Come to think of it, she didn't even see you at all. Hm..."

"Got something on your mind, Minato?" he asked as he started perking back up.

"I have a strange idea..."

* * *

Welp, my experiment proved successful. Not a single soul was able to see the kid as I crutched myself downstairs to get some breakfast. I actually imported some American cereal, not exactly sure what I was thinking when I made the call, but hey I got some of these "Frosted Flakes", and they are damn good.

I emailed Kenji asking him what time would be good to meet up, but he said his family needed him for something today, so he sadly had to cancel. I told him that's all good, and that I'd see him at school tomorrow. He apologized profusely, but I told him to chill. It was then that finally Yukari made her way down the stairs, and glared a hole right through my skull. God, it's hilarious honestly.

"Hey, Yuka-tan- woah boy, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?" The glare was then given straight to Junpei, and to see him shrink and cower was hilarious.

"You can thank me, actually." I said with a grin on my face. "I was talking to some imaginary friend of mine, and then casually said it might be a ghost. Not my fault I didn't know you were scared of them?"

"I'M NOT SCARED OF GHOSTS!"

Junpei and I just started laughing, Akihiko grew a small grin on his face, and Mitsuru simply shook her head. Yukari huffed and ran back up the stairs.

"Yuka-tan, wait!"

"Hey Junpei, you're good friends with her. She'll listen to you. Tell her I honestly didn't mean to upset her, and I'll bring her back an apology gift from the mall. I wanna go practice with the band." I crutched myself out of the door, grabbing my phone and about to dial the vocalist before my phone started ringing, and an unknown number popped up. Curious, I answered the call.

"Hello?"

 _"Is this Minato Arisato?"_

"...Shirogane-san?"

 _"Correct."_

"How did you get my number? Not that I'm complaining mind you."

 _"I recently met one of your other friends, a Kazushi Miyamoto, who was kind enough to give me your contact information."_

"Okay... so what's up?"

 _"I was wondering if you wanted to meet at Paulownia Mall. I've recently been granted some free time, and decided to take you up on your offer."_

"Sure, sure. How about at Chagall Cafe?" Granted free time? How busy is she?

 _"That shall be fine. I will see you there at 11 o'clock."_

"See ya there, Shirogane-san."

After the call ended, I looked at my phone and noticed it was 10:15. Plenty of time. I got on the subway, and pulled out my phone, dialing the vocalist's number to make some arrangements for this afternoon. She said it was fine, and she'd get everyone else together. I thanked her and ended the call, just waiting for the train to stop at Paulownia when I heard a voice in my head.

 _"Don't you even want to talk to me?"_

This is some psychic wavelength bullshit we've got going on right now, huh?

 _"Yep."_

Then hell yeah! But calling you kid all the time is gonna annoy both of us, I'm sure, so tell me: you got a name or something?

He was silent for a while, before finally responding. _"Pharos. You may call me Pharos, if you wish."_

 ***CRASH***

 **"Thou art I.**

 **And I art thou.**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Death Arcana."**

Wow, that was fast as fuck.

 _"Indeed."_ Pharos agreed.

So tell me, Pharos, what _were_ you playing earlier this morning?

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Yukari terrified of ghosts, Junpei laughing at Pixie, me lying about how Pharos won't actually be around, the band, Naoto phone call, this was just an interesting chapter to write. It took me awhile to think of how this would go, but I like what I've come up with. See ya next time for Naoto, Tarturus, Velvet Room stuff, and more Minato and Pharos!**_


	16. Chapter 16: Band Together

_**RosyMiranto18: Yes, I'm making my own little universe here, sort of like A Fool Named Fortune Reshuffled. Yes I'm making a Persona 4 fic after this one, and no I won't tell you what happens to Minato at the end of this fic because that would spoil the surprise (if there even is one :D)**_

 _ **The Personas don't really have personalities of their own per se, they can just respond to various things. Pixie pouted because Junpei was laughing at her.**_

 _ **I'm also working with any sort of drink that isn't straight water is unaffected by the Dark Hour. Besides, maybe Minato's a vampire.**_

 _ **Anywhosit, ONTO THE CHAPTER!**_

* * *

So you were playing Crash Bandicoot? Honestly, you don't seem like the kind of kid who plays games.

 _"I just wanted to see what it was like."_ Pharos insisted. _"I just didn't think it would suck so much."_

Well the first game is really hard. I've got the other two as well, so I can teach you how to play them if you want.

 _"Probably not."_ Pharos responded. _"You've got more important things to worry about._

Yeah, like meeting up with Naoto. I'm still surprised she actually called me up.

 _"Not used to girls dialing your number, Minato?"_

It's not that, it's- wait you know she's a girl too?

 _"You just called her a she, Minato. Not hard to figure out."_

Pharos?

 _"Yeah?"_

Shut up.

 _"Fine."_ he chuckled. Only I'm allowed to be smart and sarcastic like that.

 _"I can still hear your thoughts."_

CAN IT!

He full out laughed this time. I smiled, because Pharos actually really is good company. He's a fun dude to be around. Shame I'm the only one who can see him.

 _"But your friends would probably freak out if they knew."_

You do have a point, Pharos.

* * *

It didn't take much longer to get to the mall, and so I crutched myself over to the accessory shop Be Blue V to see if I could find something nice for Yukari. Took a little bit, but I did find a nice necklace with a pink heart shaped stone, and bought it for 5000 yen. I figured she would like it. After that quick detour, I glanced at my phone to find the time at 10:58, so I walked over to Chagall Cafe and sat in my usual spot. Literally, as soon as I sat down, I saw Naoto walk through and glance around before spotting me. I waved her over, and she sat down.

"Arisato-san, it's good to see you."

"Nice to see you too, Naoto-san."

"Can I get you two anything?" The perky waitress stated as she bounced up to the table. I always seem to have her, for some reason.

"I'll have my usual cup of lemon tea, spot of honey, and a bagel."

"I'll simply have a coffee, one spoon of cream and sugar." Naoto stated.

"Okaaay! It'll be out in just a few, so sit tight!" And she bounced away.

 _"So this is Naoto. She's pretty, but she kinda looks like a boy."_ Pharos stated.

Pretty sure she's doing that on purpose, Pharos.

 _"...Why?"_

If I knew, I'd tell ya.

"I asked you to come here this morning so I could give you this." Naoto handed me a fat stack of yen. I had almost forgotten about that. "The 60,000 that Mr. Tanaka stole from you, and an extra 10,000 as payment for helping me apprehend him."

"Well you can take your 10,000 back, Naoto. I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to be paid for doing the right thing. Besides, getting my money back is good enough for me." I stated.

If I surprised Naoto, she didn't show it. She simply calmly looked at me for a few moments before nodding her head. "This sort of behavior, the refusal to accept monetary payment for a task, this is a very rare trait in people nowadays, Arisato-san." As she took 10,000 yen from the stack she handed me, she continued. "I wonder, just why is that?"

"Greed is a major factor, Naoto-san. The belief that money makes the world go round, and that you can only be happy if you make enough money causes people around the world to rely on gaining as much money as they possibly can, even for tasks that should never require any sort of payment." I slowed down as the waitress brought us our stuff. I took a quick sip of my tea, and continued. "My parents raised me better than that."

 _"How much do you even remember of your parents, Minato?"_

Not much to be honest, but the stuff I do helped make me the guy I am today.

"Ah yes, my parents were reportedly the same. They disappeared when I was a young child, but my grandfather states they were very kind and hard working."

"My aunt and uncle said the same about my parents." I chuckled, and then sighed. "They passed away ten years ago."

Naoto's interest suddenly skyrocketed. "Odd, my parents disappeared ten years ago as well."

"I've run into way too many coincidences since I've came back to Iwatodai, Naoto-san. That's like the tenth I've heard." I mused.

 _"That's a pretty weird coincidence, Minato."_

Yeah, well so is Yukari's last name.

Naoto suddenly spoke up. "Their disappearence is part of the reason I've chosen my career path."

"And what would that be?"

"I'm aspiring to be a detective."

"And I bet you want to solve the case of your parent's disappearence, huh?"

Naoto had a look of pride on her face. "Yes. Everyone else has given up on it, but I've been going over the files in my grandfather's study and it seems there are still some loose ends."

"Is your grandfather a detective?" I asked.

"Correct." She nodded. "A very famous one, as well. Satoru Kuzunoha."

"Now I mean no disrespect, but I've never heard of him. Though the name Kuzunoha sounds oddly familiar."

"None taken, Arisato-san."

"But hey, if you're looking for help solving the case, I'd be happy to help if you're willing. I've always been interested in being a detective. Can't say I _want_ to be one though."

That actually got a small chuckle out of the normally stoic Naoto. "I appreciate the offer. It may be nice to have help for once, so I'll think about it." She drank the rest of the coffee and paid her share of the bill. "Thank you, Arisato-san. Have a pleasant day."

 ***CRASH***

Sigh. I really should lay off these for a while. My head is starting to hurt.

 **"Thou art I.**

 **And I am thou.**

Fortune Social Link level up woooooo please stop.

 _"Minato, are you sure that Naoto's parent's aren't more than just a coincidence?"_

Pharos, I know exactly what you're thinking, and the answer is yes, there is absolutely no way.

 _"Alright, if you say so."_

Quit trying to trick anybody reading this thing, Pharos, that's not polite.

 _"Read what thing?"_

The journal I'm writing to chronicle the events as they transpire.

 _"...Why does that sound familiar?"_

Beats me, Pharos.

* * *

So I got back to the dorm, 60,000 yen in hand, and quickly went to my room to grab my guitar and tune it up before practice. Of course, it didn't start until 12, but I wanted to be extra prepared. I summoned Pixie to cast Dia on my legs and this time could feel the magic working. My legs were slowly but surely starting to feel better, and I imagine I won't need the crutches by tomorrow, which is fantastic.

So I tuned my guitar, strummed a little to the song we would be performing, and walked back down the stairs to find Junpei sitting on the couch as usual, reading some manga I wasn't familiar with.

"Yo, Junpei, is Yukari here?"

"Nah, she left a little while ago to catch a movie."

"Ah, well, when she comes back can you give her this, and tell her it's from me?"

"Ooooh, a secret confession, huh?" Junpei's grin was wide and perverted. I sighed heavily.

"Junpei, dude, you know it's not like that."

"I know, I know. But what's the occasion, dude?"

"Remeber, an apology for earlier today?"

He seemed to think for a second. "Oh yeah!"

I grinned. "Great, so give it to her when she gets back."

"Can do, bro."

"Thanks man, I'll see ya later."

"Where ya going?" Junpei asked, confused.

"Oh, I'm practicing with the band for this Wednesday."

"Want some help with your guitar there?" I glanced at the guitar case and quickly realized that yeah, I was gonna have some trouble getting that on my back.

"Tell ya what, I'll call and let them know I'm bringing a friend along with me." I said as I grabbed my phone out of my pocket. "You mind carrying my guitar?"

"No problem, dude!"

Oddly enough, before I could dial her number, our vocalist ended up calling me. "Hey, I was just about to call."

 _"Minato, I've got bad news, practice is cancelled."_

My eyes widened slightly. "What, why!?"

 _"Shinsuke just fell down the stairs, and he's hurt pretty bad."_

"WHAT!? Put me on speaker phone!"

 _"...Okay, you're on."_

"Shin, dude! Can you hear me?"

 _"Yeah. I can hear you."_ His voice was pretty quiet, but I could tell he was hurting.

"What happened? How bad are you hurt?"

"Woah wait, who's hurt!?" I could hear Junpei yell, but I sort of waved him off.

 _"My knee sort of buckled and I fell hard."_ I could hear him chuckle and then groan. _"Looks like you'll have to find another guitar player."_

"Dude, I'll be right over!" I hung the phone up.

"Minato, what's up!?" Junpei asked in shock.

"Our rhythm guitarist fell down the stairs and he's hurt pretty bad and we're going over there right now!" I tossed my crutches aside, leaning on the wall. "It's only a few minutes away, let's go!"

"Can you even walk, dude!?"

"I'll be fine, come on!"

* * *

While I did have some trouble walking and had to rely on Junpei early on, the adrenaline rush of what just happened kind of pushed the healing process a little ahead of schedule. We made it to Shin's house and went through the basement, where we knew we would be practicing.

"Minato!" I heard a voice call out, to find our vocalist, a teenage redheaded girl running up to us.

"Where is he?" I asked her, and she led us to where Shin had fallen, leaning against the wall in a seated position. "Has someone called an ambulance yet?"

"I did." came the reply from our stoic bassist, medium height with long dark hair.

"Okay cool, thanks Nick." I glanced in his direction while bending down to deal with Shin.

"You alright, dude?" I asked him. He looked up.

"I hit my head pretty hard and I think I broke my hand." I took a glance at his right hand and yeah, definitely broken alright. He took a look at Junpei. "You already found a guy?"

"We can talk about that possibility later, right now we gotta make sure you're good, besides the hand obviously."

Before I could get a reply, there was a knock on the basement door. The bassist went and opened it to find the paramedics here. They did some work, asked some questions (didn't get anything from me or Junpei, since we just got there), determined most definitely his hand was broken and he had a concussion, and took him away. After standing around for what felt like a few minutes in shock, I sighed heavily and just sat on the stairs.

"You think that guy's gonna be alright?" Junpei asked in a concerned tone.

"He'll be fine, that's what they said." Nick responded.

"But more importantly," the girl cut in "who _are_ you? You're not gonna replace Shin, are you?"

"Guys, chill." I spoke up before the situation could get more hostile. "That's Junpei, he's a good friend of mine and I invited him over before all this happened."

"Besides..." Junpei nervously replied "I don't really play guitar much anymore."

"You played?" asked Nick.

"Yeah, but I sorta quit a few years back." Junpei said sadly.

"We'll talk about that later." I told Junpei with a knowing glance. It sounded personal to me.

 _"Probably is personal, Minato."_

Wouldn't doubt it, Pharos.

"But uh, can you introduce me to your friends here dude?" Junpei asked, especially eyeing our vocalist.

"Well, you just saw our rhythm guitarist Shinsuke Morimoto get carted off." I said with a somber tone. "This right here is Nick Jackson, and yeah he's American if you couldn't guess."

"How ya doin'?" Nick asked, barely glancing in Junpei's direction.

"Don't worry about him." I whispered to Junpei, just loud enough for the others to barely hear. "Get past the introductory sequence and he's a great guy, at least that's what I've heard from our lovely singer here." I quickly pointed in her direction. "This young lady is Rise Kujikawa, and dude, don't get any ideas."

"What do ya mean, Minato?"

"She's in middle school."

Junpei's eyes widened slightly, as Rise just softly giggled before sighing. "Looks like we're gonna have to cancel our act. I was looking forward to finally singing in front of a larger crowd."

"We're not canceling. You heard Shin, we've gotta find another guitarist."

"Minato, we can't just do that to him!" Rise objected.

"Rise, we have his blessing." Nick finally said. "I don't want to replace him either, but after all that hard work we've done preparing for this gig, I'm not gonna back out this close to showtime."

Rise seemed like she wanted to argue more, but she finally, reluctantly gave in. Of course, she wasn't happy about it.

"How much time do you guys have until the show?" Junpei asked. I would've reminded him that I just told him earlier today, but honestly I wasn't really thinking after what just happened."

"Wednesday." Rise sadly responded, obviously under the belief that we wouldn't find a rhythm guitarist in time.

"Well hell, I'll play with you guys if you want." Junpei stated. I just looked at him.

"You sure Junpei?"

"Hey, I don't let a bro down. Now hand me your guitar, I gotta get back in shape."

"Do you even know what we're playing?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"Nope, but I'll find out soon enough, huh?" He responded with an equally large smile on his face.

 ***CRASH***

Come back later, please, thanks!

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: I know I promised Tarturus and the Velvet Room, but honestly this chapter was getting pretty long as is (POST EDIT! While getting this ready to upload, I found out it's not as long as I had thought it was. This is why I wish I had Microsoft Word) so I had cut it off. Next chapter will have our Tarturus shenanigans. But yes, not only is Naoto a Social Link, but I've included Rise as a cameo as the vocalist for Minato's band! Help me come up with a cool name for the band, something Persona 3 or 4 related would be perfect! You don't have to, but I'd like it if you helped lol! See ya next time, peoples!**_

 _ **(POST EDIT: Changed the shop name to what it's actually called, Be Blue V instead of Blue V Blue. But honestly, I think I only went there once to figure out what kinda store it is and never went in again, so forgive me for screwing that up.)**_


	17. The Fool's Exposition

_**WARNING: This is a filler chapter: This has absolutely no bearing on the story whatsoever, and can be skipped if you wish.**_

 _ **With that out of the way, ONTO THE CHAPTER!**_

* * *

Hey everybody, this is the author, sykotiksonik. How are you guys? You may have recently read my latest chapter, "Band Together", and are probably confused with this one and why I didn't call this Chapter 17. That's because This is a filler chapter, but not like Chapter 6: Instead, what I'll be doing is listing off the Social Links Minato has created so far, and do a little description of our characters. This may very well be the shortest chapter yet, but don't fret, because Chapter 17 will come like right behind this, plus I just felt like doing this, and I will do it every once in a blue moon during this story. Anywhosits, ONTO THE- wait I already said that. Let's go to the Social Links.

* * *

 **Social Links**

Our hero Minato has created the following Social Links during his time in Iwatodai:

 **Fool: S.E.E.S. (2/10)**

 **Magician: Junpei Iori** (replaces Kenji Tomochika, Junpei is the Magician Link in Persona 3 Portable for the female protagonist) **(3/10)**

 **Lovers: Yukari Takeba** (This was created at the hospital scene while Minato was paralyzed, if you forgot) **(1/10)**

 **Chariot: Kazushi Miyamoto (1/10)**

 **Fortune: Naoto Shirogane** (The Fortune Link for Persona 4 is now also the Link for Persona 3! But why? Also replaces Keisuke Hiraga) **(2/10)**

 **Strength: Yuko Nishiwaki (1/10)**

 **Hanged Man: Maiko Oohashi (1/10)**

 **Death: Pharos (3/10)**

 **Devil: Shuji Ikutsuki** (replaces Tanaka, because I have some _**BIG**_ plans for Ikutsuki Social Link! :D Created at the same time as Yukari's) **(1/10)**

 **Star: Akihiko Sanada** (replaces Mamorou Hayase) **(1/10)**

These are all the Social Links so far that have appeared throughout the story, and their ranks so far. Now for character descriptions! (Important characters only)

* * *

 **Characters**

 **Minato Arisato:** Our protagonist. Grey eyes, sick blue hair, and a very friendly person. Open to helping anyone who needs it, he's putting his life on the line for S.E.E.S. for one reason only: revenge. Specifically, revenge for his family. He lost his mother, father, and younger sister in a "car crash" during the Dark Hour 10 years ago. He can summon multiple Personas. A talented guitarist and cook, he doesn't really like to brag about what he can do. Utilizes his MMA training in Tarturus for ruthless combos, techniques, and submissions.

 **Junpei Iori:** Minato's best friend, though at times they do butt heads. Junpei makes up for Minato's techniuqe in fighting Shadows by utilizing raw power. He holds his katana like a baseball bat, but it seems to work for him. Seems to have quit guitar a few years back for personal reasons.

 **Yukari Takeba:** The first person active in the Dark Hour Minato ever met, on that night she was about to summon her Persona and was thankfully stopped by Mitsuru. Ever since, the friendly bond between Minato and Yukari has slowly, so slowly been growing throughout the story thus far. Scared of ghosts, and gets really angry and defensive when confronted about it. She lost her father in an explosion 10 years ago, and her mother and her aren't on good terms. She joined S.E.E.S. because she believes this will help her uncover answers on her father's death. What she lacks in Junpei's strength or Minato's technique in Tarturus, she more than makes up with near marksman like precision.

 **Mitsuru Kirijo:** Comes from the wealthy (and powerful) Kirijo family, and leader of S.E.E.S., as well as support for the team. While she is less cold than in canon, she's not exactly the friendliest person you'll ever meet, though she's hardly disrespectful. Judging by the aura you can feel around her, she seems to be fairly powerful herself, and I'm not just talking about in terms of Shadows.

 **Akihiko Sanada:** Gekkoukan High School's champion boxer, has yet to lose a match. A third year, much like Mitsuru, he's currently recupirating a broken arm and other injuries received on the last day of the full moon. Seems to be a confident, though all around friendly person.

 **Shuji Ikutsuki:** The chairman of Gekkoukan High, and also club advisor for S.E.E.S., to keep ordinary people less suspicious of the club's true purpose. He tells really bad jokes and apparently can have difficulties pronouncing his last name, but he's all around a well meaning individual.

 **Pharos:** A mysterious ghost child Minato met on his first night in Iwatodai, Minato is the only one who can interact with him: no one else has any idea he's there. Sometimes tells Minato cryptic or important information, though even he has no idea what it means. Has recently begun following Minato around because, in Minato's own words "He makes good company, even though no one else can see him".

 **Naoto Shirogane:** A girl Minato met earlier on who happens to dress herself into looking like a boy. Her parents mysteriously disappeared 10 years ago, and she wishes to become a detective, partly to find out the true cause of their disappearence. Minato recently helped her get a local scam artist, Tanaka, arrested, and thus they've become aquaintences. Has a Persona hidden deep in her subconcious, though is most likely not accessible to the Dark Hour.

* * *

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this little filler chapter thing. Don't worry, Chapter 17 will be out literally right after this, so stay tuned! See ya next time, peoples!


	18. Chapter 17: Truth

_**RosyMiranto18: Well, the X-Files theme won't be playing then, sorry.**_

 _ **Naoto may very well be slightly consumed by greed in canon, I'm not sure, but not in my universe. Naoto is a well meaning girl who's just trying to solve her parent's disappearence, and knows from her grandfather just how hard being a female detective, much less one who isn't even an adult can be. She's motivated is how I would describe it.**_

 _ **Ha, I understood that reference! Plus 1 to you, my friend!**_

 _ **Wasn't aware there was a third person to successfully finish Mt. Midoriyama! I haven't watched Ninja Warrior since whenever the hell they took G4 off the air, because they never want to show the Japanese version anywhere. That's cool, good for him though! Nah, I originally wanted to name the character Shinsuke Norimoto, to throw in a small reference to the protagonist pf Persona 4 Golden Moon Rusei Norimoto, but decided against it because A) I'm pretty sure Rusei's older brother isn't named Shinsuke, and B) I doubt many people would get it. So I went with Morimoto. Shinsuke came because my favorite professional wrestler is Shinsuke Nakamura. No one in the band is a new Social Link, that was just Junpei's leveling up again. And Word doesn't come with laptops you buy for $100 used off Amazon, apparently. *sigh***_

 _ **And I really, really like that name suggestion. Thanks for reading and keep enjoying!**_

 _ **With that out of the way, ONTO THE CHAPTER!**_

* * *

"That's a pretty weird song, dude, you know?" Junpei asked after we had him listen to the song we were performing Wednesday.

"That's exactly how Rise responded when we played it for her, dude." I grinned as Rise giggled. "She ended up agreeing because we convinced her we wanted to hear a girl sing it."

"But seriously, dude! What was that guy even talking about? Heaven falling into Hell and shit." Junpei asked incredously. I just shrugged.

"None of us know." Nick answered with a smirk on his face.

Junpei sort of stared at him for a second in shock before turning back to me. "But you do have a point, it is a pretty good song, Minato."

"See, I told you." I smirked proudly.

"But where's your drummer?" Junpei asked? I glanced around the room. "Hey Nick, where's Drew at?"

"Oh, he went out with my mom to Paulownia. Should be back soon."

"Hey everybody, I'm back!" Came the call of one 15 year old Drew Jackson through the basement door. He noticed me. "Hey Minato!" He then took a quick glance around the room and at Junpei. "Who's the new guy? And where's Shin?"

* * *

"You're fucking kidding me." Drew said flatly as Rise recounted the events thus far.

She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry Drew, but that's what happened."

He seemed to think about this for a few moments, before shrugging. "Shit happens, so let's give it our all!"

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah! After all, you know Shin's gonna be there supporting us!"

"And if not, we'll kick his ass." Nick joined in with a smirk.

"So come on Junpei, we've got some practicing to do!" I handed him my guitar and we got to work.

* * *

Practice didn't quite go as well as we were expecting, but I mean really, Junpei had never played the song before and hadn't played guitar in years, I'm surprised he did as well as he did. Man, we are gonna kick some ass at that show we keep this up.

 _"Do you really think Junpei can learn that song in 3 days with Tarturus and school and everything else?"_ Pharos asked me.

Hell yeah dude, I'm pretty sure Junpei wouldn't have offered if he didn't think he could do it.

 _"If you say so."_

Hush Pharos, it's time to get ready for Tarturus.

 _"But it's only 6:30."_

Yes but obviously I need extra time to get Yukari and Junpei ready, plus I really need to be ready to talk to Igor later.

 _"About what specifically?"_

I'm gonna grill him for as musch information as I can get.

* * *

"Minato?"

"Yes, Yukari?

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I figured since you two are going into the tower, I've got nothing better to do than to stare at this magnificent architecture."

Silence.

"...I don't even know what to think about you anymore, dude."

"I'm insane, don't worry about it." I smiled as I stepped through the door to the Velvet Room.

* * *

"Ah, Master Minato." Igor announced as I sat in my usual spot. "What can I do for you on this fine night?"

"I want answers, Igor."

The smile on his face wavered ever so slightly, while Elizabeth's normally rather pleasent expression all but vanished. "Pardon?"

"I want answers about this- My power, this tower, the Shadows, as many answers as I can get."

The maniacal smile grew ever wider, to the point where I'm starting to believe Igor's mouth is wider than his head. "Oh, is that all you needed?"

The hell?

"Just as you are under contract, Master Minato, myself and Elizabeth are as well. Our contract states we may only inform you of things relevant to your journey as they become necessary. I may be able to answer a few questions, but not all at this moment in time."

"Are you serious?"

Igor nodded. "I apologize for the inconvienience, but yes, it is true."

"Fucking fantastic." I groaned. "I wanted to get as much information as I can in twenty minutes... Fuck."

"Luckily for you, time stands still as long as you are in here of your own accord. Please, feel free to ask away."

I stared at Igor for a couple seconds, before slowly nodding my head. "Ok, I guess I could start out with one that's been bothering me for awhile."

"And that would be?"

"If I reveal that the Velvet Room exists, does it break the contract?"

Igor gave a hearty laugh, while Elizabeth chuckled as well.

"What's so funny?" I asked, slightly irritated.

"My young man..." Igor stated between laughs. "The revelation of your ties to the Velvet Room matter not in the continuation of the contract. You happen to be the first person I've encountered who is the only one of his group able to access the Velvet Room."

"So wait, not only are you saying you don't care if I tell my friends, but this is the first time only one person has been able to get in here?"

"Precisely." Igor nodded.

"That simplifies things with explaining this at least..." I muttered. "Next question, why exactly do I have this power? What does it entail?"

"Alas, I am unable to inform you of every ability you possess at this point, though I can inform you of this: You have been deemed a Wild Card."

"Wild Card? What does that mean, I'm insane?"

"Nothing of the sort, my friend." Igor chuckled. "A Wild Card is someone of the Fool Arcana my master has deemed worthy."

"So in my 17 years of life, I've somehow impressed your master enough for me to be deemed worthy of this power?"

"To simplify matters, yes."

"Joy..." I muttered as I sarcastically twirled my finger in the air.

"Any more questions, my young friend?"

"A few, actually. Why is Tarturus here?"

"The answer is not for me to reveal, but for you and your friends to discover yourself."

"What is the Reaper's deal?"

"I currently do not know any information about said entity."

"Well, I guess I have one more question."

"And that would be?"

"Do you have a book on Tarot I could borrow?"

Igor smiled.

* * *

I stepped out of the Velvet Room with my mind slightly at ease, and a book on Tarot in my right hand.

I was greeted by pairs of eyes staring at me in surprise.

"Minato?"

"Yes, Junpei?"

"Did you have that book with you when you came in?"

"Nope." I said straight with a smile on my face. "I'll explain tomorrow."

"What do you mean by that?" Mitsuru asked with a glare.

"Exactly what I said. I will explain tomorrow."

"You will explain now." She growled in frustration.

I sighed, not willing to argue. "Fine. Give me just a second." I said as I walked back into the Velvet Room.

"Can I borrow Elizabeth for just a moment, Igor?"

"I'm aware of your current predicament, and I give you permission."

"Great, I'll knock when I need her. Thank you." I hurried out of the Velvet Room, and leaned on the door.

I cleared my throat, to get the attention of the 6 eyes staring at me in confusion and anger.

"I have learned something, and I feel it's very important for all of you to know."

"And just what would that be, Arisato?" Mitsuru asked.

"My power. It is because I was deemed a 'Wild Card' by the master of a place known as the Velvet Room."

"The Velvet Room?" Junpei asked? "Some kind of bar?"

"Nothing of the sort, Junpei. And I see that skeptical look in your eyes, Mitsuru, so I'm going to prove it's existence right now." I knocked on the door, and Elizabeth walked through the door. Eyes on me suddenly transferred to her with a look of shock.

"My, I'm not used to so many eyes being on me." Elizabeth purred.

"What the-!?"

"Dude!"

"Where did she come from!?"

"Everybody, this is Elizabeth. She's an assistant to the one in charge of the Velvet Room, and they help me with my Persona stuff."

"A pleasure to make your aquaintence." Elizabeth said. "My role is to assist Master Igor in the process of Persona Fusion."

"Persona..."

"Fusion?" Junpei finished Yukari's question. Mitsuru simply stared in shock.

"Persona Fusion is something I haven't done yet, but from what I've been told I can create stronger Personas by fusing a couple I have on hand. I can only fuse up to a certain level though, so no Junpei, I cannot just create an ultimate badass Persona right now."

"Damn." Junpei muttered.

"I was going to present you with this later, Master Minato, but I shall make you aware of it now." Curious. She pulled a giant book out of her pocket, and the other three continued to stare in shock, while I stared in interest.

 _"Where did she even get that from?"_

Oh, hey Pharos, didn't know you where here.

 _"I got bored and followed you to Tarturus."_

Ah.

"This is the Persona Compendium. It will hold a record of any and all Personas you acquire throughout your journey."

"Really now? So it already has Orpheus, Pixie, and Apsaras in there?"

She nodded her head. "Correct. This Compendium will allow you to summon any Persona listed in the compendium, at it's last known strength. For a fee, of course."

"And it's probably gonna be expensive as fuck, isn't it?"

"I think you'll find my prices more than fair."

"I'll argue over them next time Elizabeth, but I believe our work here is done."

"I'd agree. I will see you tomorrow, Master Minato."

"Please, don't call me that in front of people..." I sighed. "Junpei over there'll get the wrong idea."

Elizabeth chuckled. "Very well. A pleasure meeting you all." Elizabeth stated before going back through the door.

I turned back around to find Yukari and Junpei heading up the stairs in a hurry, with Mitsuru simply glaring at me.

"Is there a problem, senpai?"

She continued to glare.

"If you're wondering, I am the only one who can see and enter the Velvet Room."

The glare lightened but continued.

"And the Tarot book? Well, Shadows are classified into different Arcana, so I wanted to do some studying."

While no longer a glare, Mitsuru still stared at me in utter confusion.

"I'm gonna start reading now. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but you should probably help Yukari and Junpei out."

She slowly nodded her head before walking over to her support station. I sat down on the stairs and began reading the book.

* * *

Twenty minutes goes by way too fast when you're not actually exploring Tarturus. I also see how Akihiko-senpai feels, because goddamn was that boring. And thanks to a certain little ghost, I only got through half of the first chapter on the Fool.

 _"Well sorry for being curious."_

I'm not mad, Pharos, I'm just upset that it felt so short because of all that's happened. This is a great read so far, written by some dude named Theodore, and co-authored by a girl named Margaret.

 _"Odd they don't have last names."_

Pen names are a mysterious creation, Pharos. They probably didn't feel like giving their real names and couldn't think of a last name.

 _"Fair enough."_

But yeah, I think I'm gonna take my book to school with me, maybe read it during lunch or on the train. No you can't come to school with me.

 _"Ah, bugger."_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Not action packed, no Social Links, but plenty of interesting stuff! So this is going in a direction where everyone's aware of the Velvet Room, but Minato will still keep certain things hidden from his comrades. How will that effect the story? Keep reading and find out! See ya next time!**_


	19. The Fool's Update

_**Hey everybody, sykotiksonik here! I figured with Christmas coming around the corner, I should at least give you guys an update on what's up with the story and why it's been a while.**_

 _ **1: I have a job that I'm really enjoying, which is taking time away from P3FES. Said job has hours that range from me working in the evening, sometimes up until 2 in the morning (why I'm up at 3 in the morning writing this update), but it's nothing too bad. Just some bad customers.**_

 _ **2: I moved back with my mom after a few years of no contact, and am just all together attempting to get my head on straight, as the past few years of my life have really taken it's toll on me mentally, most especially the last few months.**_

 _ **3: I've just been lazy playing some games.**_

 _ **These are the three big things keeping progress on the next chapter slow as molasses, but I do have a sneak preview for you guys! The very little bit I've been able to finish of the beginning of the chapter! Because you guys deserve something, so here we go!**_

* * *

 _"Aw, come on, let me come, please?"_

No, Pharos.

 _"But what am I gonna do all day?"_

Play my PSP?

 _"But you don't have anything I want to play on it!"_

Watch TV?

 _"I don't know how to turn it on!"_

I don't have the time to tell you right now.

 _"So can I please come?"_

Sigh. Fine, you can come.

 _"YAAY!"_

But stay quiet.

 _Sigh. "Alright."_

Good, now let's go.

* * *

The train ride was a bit more interesting than normal, because I was able to catch up with Kazushi. He told me how hyped he was for practice this afternoon, but kept why a secret. But I was actually able to get him outside his MMA obsession for at least a few minutes, and talk to him about other stuff (he's a big fan of pork ramen), and he also loves Dragon Ball, so he's already a big friend of mine. The conversation quickly went back to MMA, until we got to school.

Nothing terribly interesting happened at school. I explained to Toriumi-sensei that I had an accident on Saturday and wasn't able to make it to school. Thankfully, she bought it. Anyways, I had to answer a chemistry question, something about water molecules, but I didn't really know (science isn't my best subject). But I somehow got it right. The answer, by the way, is soft water.

But man, once lunch started, I was given a big surprise as Mitsuru walked in and asked to speak to me. Privately. So we walked out of the room.

"Arisato, I need to request a favor from you."

"What is it, senpai?"

"I'd like you to join the Student Council."

"...What?"

* * *

 _ **And that's where progress has ended unfortunately! :( I'm going to try my best to get this story up and running again by the end of the year, but no promises. I apologize for the delay, and thank you all for being so patient if you have been.**_


	20. Chapter 18: A Trip to Paulownia

_**MY GOD IT HAS BEEN WAY TOO LONG LET'S ANSWER SOME REVIEWS!**_

 _ **Dad of War (now know as Dad of Boi): Well, by soon you meant in July, right? :p Haha I have no excuse...**_

 _ **RosyMiranto 18: I really actual should read that LP someday.**_

 _ **About Naoto awakening in the Dark Hour...**_

 _ **Maybe...**_

 _ **Yeah, I used to fucking love Ninja Warrior, but that was when I was a kid. I should probably look it up again at some point.**_

 _ **Golden Moon (and by extension the related A Fool Named Fortune Reshuffled) are amazing!**_

 _ **Shinji will be replacing Nozomi, and it's not even close between Chihiro and Ken at all. I really don't like Ken. The Death SL may be continued with Ryoji, but I won't spoil that at all. You'll just have to wait 8 years until you see, if the time it took me to write this one chapter is anything to go by! :D**_

 _ **Finally, secretiveness is the best way to handle something along these lines! You never know, in this story Junpei could totally have a shot with Eliza- I can't even finish that sentence without laughing.**_

* * *

 _Aw, come on, let me come, please?_

No, Pharos.

 _But what am I gonna do all day?_

Play my PSP?

 _But you don't have anything I want to play on it!_

Watch TV?

 _I don't know how to turn it on!_

I don't have the time to tell you right now.

 _So can I please come?_

Sigh. Fine, you can come.

 _YAAY!_

But stay quiet.

 _Sigh. Alright._

Good, now let's go.

* * *

The train ride was a bit more interesting than normal, because I was able to catch up with Kazushi. He told me how hyped he was for practice this afternoon, but kept why a secret. But I was actually able to get him outside his MMA obsession for at least a few minutes, and talk to him about other stuff (he's a big fan of the pork yakisoba from Wakatsu), and he also loves Dragon Ball, so he's already a big friend of mine. The conversation quickly went back to MMA, until we got to school.

Nothing terribly interesting happened at school. I explained to Toriumi-sensei that I had an accident on Saturday and wasn't able to make it to school. Thankfully, she bought it. Anyways, I had to answer a chemistry question, something about water molecules, but I didn't really know (science isn't my best subject). But I somehow got it right. The answer, by the way, is soft water.

But man, once lunch started, I was given a big surprise as Mitsuru walked in and asked to speak to me. Privately. So we walked out of the room.

"Arisato, I need to request a favor from you."

"What is it, senpai?"

"I'd like you to join the Student Council."

"...What?"

"Yes. With your leadership and intelligence, you'd be very helpful in the Student Council."

"-And why wouldn't you ask someone like Akihiko?" I asked.

"Well..." Mitsuru paused. "...This type of work isn't something Akihiko would find interesting."

"And you think I would?"

"Are you saying you wouldn't, Arisato?"

I grinned. "Nah, it seems fun! Just let me know in advance next time, please!"

Mitsuru sighed in relief and bowed. "I'm very grateful, Arisato. You don't have to show up every meeting, but every once in a while would truly help lift some stress off my shoulders. You must go to the Faculty Office however and let Toriumi-sensei know of your intention to join."

"Alright, I'll head there after school."

* * *

"Arisato-kun, are you even listening?"

I bolted my head up from my nap. "O-of course, Miyahara-sensei!"

 _You're not even convincing, Minato._

"Alright then, Arisato, answer the question I just asked the class!"

Oh shit.

Pharos, help?

 _Don't look at me! I don't know when numbers were invented!_

Well then I'm screwed.

"Well, Arisato? We're waiting!"

Might as well take a shot in the dark. "Uh, I'm not 100% sure, but I believe numbers were invented... 6,000 years ago?"

Miyahara-sensei stared at me with a surprised look for a few moments.

"Well, I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover. Sorry for doubting you, Arisato-kun!" And class went on it's way.

How did she honestly expect anyone to know that?

"Wow, Arisato-kun really is smart!"

"I swear he was napping, but I guess he was just concentrating."

"Maybe I should do that too!"

I don't think that's a good idea, Kenji.

* * *

"Toriumi-sensei?" I knocked on the door of the Faculty Office before entering.

"Ah, Arisato-kun, welcome." She greeted warmly. "What can I do for you?"

"Mitsuru-senpai told me this is where I go to sign up for student council?"

"Ah, so you're the one Ms. Kirijo said would be joining!" Toriumi revealed a clipboard and a piece of paper. "Sign here please!" I took the clipboard from here hand, signed my name as neatly as possible, and handed the form back to her.

"The student council meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and is right across the hall from homeroom."

"Gotcha. Thank you, Toriumi-sensei." I waved goodbye as I walked out of the Faculty Office. I pulled out my cell phone and called Junpei.

 ***ring***

 ***ring***

 ***click*** _"Hello?"_

"Junpei, dude, you still at school?"

 _"Minato? Yeah, I'm still here, why?"_

"I want to do some stuff with you at the mall. You free?"

 _"Yeah, I'm down! Meet you at the gate, alright?"_

"Cool, see you in a few." ***click***

* * *

"So what's the plan, Minato?" Junpei asked excitedly as we walked towards the Velvet Alley, as I called it. We had talked about things like gaming and the band all throught the ride to the mall, but I never told him what was going on today. We stopped in front of where the door to the Velvet Room was, with Junpei looking around quite confused.

"What are we doing back here, dude?"

"I need you to wait here for just a moment."

Junpei grew slightly wary, replying with a shaky "Ok?" as I entered the Room.

"Well Elizabeth, are you ready?" I asked.

"Ah, Master Minato, I've been expecting you for quite some time." Elizabeth purred. I cannot get over how sexy, intentionally or not, she always ends up sounding. I groaned.

"Please do not call me that in public, Elizabeth, ok?"

"If you insist." She stated, with just the smallest hint of sadness in her voice. "Though I am curious as to why you refuse to be addressed as such."

"It's hard to explain, but in human culture Master implies some... weird relationships, let's put it that way." I responded. Igor spoke up.

"I believe I understand, and will attempt to explain the connotations to Elizabeth when she returns."

"Thanks Igor, we'll be back soon."

Igor simply gave a nod as Elizabeth and I left the Velvet Room.

* * *

"Uh..."

"Junpei, you remember Elizabeth, right?" I gestured towards Elizabeth giving a small bow.

"Yeah, uh... Minato? When you go into that room, does that always happen?"

"Does what always happen?"

"You just looked like you were staring off into space."

"Huh. No idea. Guess it's because no one else can see the door?" I turned towards Elizabeth as I finished the question, but she didn't seem to notice.

"I cannot wait to see what you humans do here at a 'mall' with my own eyes."

"What is she talking about, dude?"

"Well Junpei, we are going to give Elizabeth here a tour of the human world, starting with Paulownia Mall."

"But why would she need a tour? She looks human to me." That's a good point. To the outside eyes, Elizabeth looks like just an odd human. But I know better.

"Junpei, she came from a door that only I can see that enters into a place between dreams and reality. Pretty sure she's not human."

We turned towards Elizabeth, only to find that she wasn't there anymore.

"Minato, where did she go?" Junpei asked me but I didn't have time to respond as I bursted out of the alley in a desperate daze looking for Elizabeth. Who knows what kind of trouble her eccentric behavior could get her into. She can't be too hard to find. And I was right. She was standing beside the fountain in the middle of the mall. I rushed over to her.

"Elizabeth, don't run off by yourself like that!" I didn't quite yell but said loud enough for a few people to turn their heads. She just turned around with a quizzical expression on her face.

"Oh, I apologize Mas-" She noticably stopped herself from addressing me as Master, as she struggled to think of a more appropriate way. As that was going on, Junpei comes running up to us huffing and puffing.

"Jeez, Minato, don't rush off like that man! You kinda freaked me out." He glanced over at Elizabeth, still struggling to think of a word besides Master. "You seemed to have found her though."

"Yeah, I just warned her not to run off by herself." We turned back towards Elizabeth who seemed to have regained her thoughts.

"I apologize, Minato-san. I caught a glimpse of this contraption here and simply had to see for myself. This is one of your world's rarities, a 'fountain', am I correct?"

"Yeah, that's the fountain. Pretty cool, huh?" Junpei sounded like he was about to brag about the mall, but Elizabeth completely ignored him.

"And at a fountain, you offer up currency to the fountain spirits, which allows your wishes to be granted, correct?"

"Uh..." Junpei was at a loss.

"I mean, I'm sure there are people who believe that. And I don't think I can say for certain whether that's right or wrong, Elizabeth."

"Well, luckily for myself, I have come prepared, with two thousand of your 500 yen coins!" She stated excitedly while producing a large, buldging purse of coins.

"T-t-two thousand!?" I shouted, not caring if anyone is staring at me at this point. Junpei is in complete shock, but before we can stop Elizabeth, she began pouring the coins into the fountain. They just flowed out, seemingly endlessly, like a damn waterfall, until finally Elizabeth put the bag away. By this point the entire bottom of the fountain is just absolutely covered in coins, and seemingly most of the mall had surrounded the fountain, in complete shock.

"Oh! In all my excitement, I forgot to make a wish." Elizabeth sadly exclaimed. "This won't do." She began reaching for the purse again.

Trying to recover any sort of calm I had before this adventure began, I hastily responded "Never mind about that Elizabeth, let's just go try something else." I turned towards Junpei, who was muttering to himself about how insane that was. "Any ideas, Junpei?"

"Huh?" He looked up, finding Elizabeth and I staring at him.

"I asked if you had any ideas for what we could do next?"

Junpei thought about it for a moment, as we walked past the Police station. Elizabeth suddenly halted.

"What is this facility here?"

"Hm? That's the Police station. Elizabeth." Junpei replied, looking up from his thoughts. She peered into the window. "There seems to be many stern-faced gentlemen inside."

"Those are police officers, Elizabeth." I stated, but she must not have heard me as she was staring at the wanted posters on the window.

"Most wanted... Reward..." She turned around towards us. "Minato-san, am I to assume that these posters are similar to the subjugation requests I've given you?"

"Sub what requests?" Junpei asked. I ignored him.

"Pretty much, I'd guess."

"Hm..." Elizabeth stood there in thought for a moment. "What do they use as proof the target has been subjugated?"

"They just-"

"If they truly parallel my requests, then do they require a piece of the body?" My eyes shot up.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH, they don't kill them Elizabeth!" I nearly yelled in a hushed tone. "They bring the criminals in to the police station, and they're put in jail. The person who called the police or brought the criminal in is given a reward."

"Minato, what the hell is she talking about?" Junpei asked. I told him I'd tell him later.

"My interest is piqued." Elizabeth stated matter of factly. Junpei used this opportunity to speak up about his idea.

* * *

"The arcade... I have heard of it before."

"Wait, you've actually heard of an arcade before?" I questioned, as we were walking towards the arcade. Junpei said he wanted to see how she played games.

"I recall it described as a playground where one sports with electric fairies in exchange for tokens..." This adventure taught me to never question what goes on in Elizabeth's mind.

"I have also heard that they contain games where one controls a bird to win prizes... I'm very eager to experience this myself-OH!" Elizabeth gasped and suddenly darted off past the arcade. Junpei and I began racing behind her but didn't take too long to catch up to her.

"I wasn't aware there was a fountain on this side as well." She produced the giant purse, but before I could stop her, she darted off towards a third fountain, near Club Escapade. Oh lordy this will be fun.

* * *

After our exercise inducing adventure, and Elizabeth exclaiming how excited she was about the 'trinity of fountain spirits', we walked her back to the Velvet Alley. Junpei told me she was weird, but fun at the same time and I should introduce her to everyone else later. Thank god Elizabeth didn't hear us, I can only imagine the kind of things Elizabeth would say. We said our goodbyes, and I told Junpei I'd be going to the Room for a minute or two. I walked into the Room, Igor still sitting there with that eternally creepy smile, and Elizabeth walking towards her usual position.

"Welcome back, young man. I assume you and Elizabeth had your fun on your little adventure?" I nodded.

"Yeah we did, but man she is high strung. She kept running off towards different things and had me and my buddy Junpei worried."

"I apologize, Master Minato." Elizabeth bowed. "My mind was racing with curiosity and questions and I went off to satiate my curiosity."

"It's all good Elizabeth." I assured. "Just ask me or my friends next time."

"Understood, Master."

All was quiet. I was just about to wish Igor and Elizabeth a good day when suddenly

 _ ***CRASH***_

WAIT A MINUTE!

 **"I am thou, thou art I."**

ARE YOU SERIOUS!?

 **"Thou hast established a new bond."**

 **"Thou shalt have our blessings when thou choosest to create a Persona of the World Arcana."**


	21. Chapter 19

**Let's answer a review!**

 **RosyMiranto18: Alright, lemme answer these one at a time.**

 **1: Still planning on it.**

 **2: Can you explain what Jampi-Jampi mode would be?**

 **3: Don't worry, I'll be fine.**

 **4: Still my favorite Persona 3 fic of all time.**

 **5: No, I personally don't like Ken. I won't be showing much bias against him in the story, but I'm not a fan of his character.**

 **6: I feel when it comes to keeping secrets that can be a character flaw for a character, but in terms of author and audience it's very important. If I told you what my plans were for a specific character, it would ruin the shock for what happens. Even if you guess it correctly, I'm confirming or denying nothing.**

 **7: Pharos is a magic ghost child of awesome. When he grabs a hold of something (like Minato's PSP), it becomes just as visible as he is.**

 **8: I believe that's something that Persona 3: Fairly English Story did and I enjoyed it tremondously so yeah I took that aspect from the story.**

 **9: Yeah, no Akihiko in the Student Council.**

 **10: Sounds about right to me.**

 **11: Ok I'll tell this right now, Elizabeth is just a hardcore tease.**

 **12: I don't believe I've read that story, but Junpei wouldn't do that. He was in just as much shock as the rest of the mall goers.**

 **13: Eh, I thought it would be fun to bring in an Arcana that isn't used or talked about much in the modern Persona games, so yes Elizabeth is the World.**

 **14: Can do, just forgot to edit them in when uploading the chapter!**

 **Ok, with that out of the way, ON TO THE CHAPTER!**

* * *

"IGOR, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" I screamed in shock. A Social Link with _Elizabeth_ of all people!? How the hell is that going to work?

"I assure you, Master Minato, we are just as confused as you are." Igor replied calmly, but I could tell he was serious. Elizabeth just continued to stare at Igor in slight bewilderment. "This is an event even I could not foresee. In the time this Velvet Room has existed, this is the first time I can personally recall a resident of this place being as vital to one's Journey as Elizabeth seems to have been deemed."

I couldn't quite understand. I mean, I don't understand the concept of Social Links much anyways, but this is all just flying over my head.

"It seems our Master has decided to truly make your Journey a unique one."

"Yeah, I can tell." I groaned quietly.

* * *

As I stepped back into the real world, I was running all the thoughts I could about what I just went through. Elizabeth as a Social Link. I'm already feeling weird about the Social Link system in general, but with _**her**_ it's just-

"Hey, Minato, everything all right?"

Oh right, I almost forgot about Junpei. Can you really blame me?

"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's fine, Junpei. Just thinking about a lot of things."

"Stress getting to you, huh?" I looked up and noticed Junpei had a thoughtful and serious look on his face.

"Yeah. Tarturus, Personas, Shadows, that Reaper... not to mention school, the band, and Elizabeth. I'm not sure I can handle it all right now." I was being honest. Junpei set a hand on my shoulder.

"Minato, you're our leader man! We believe in you, and we'll help you with anything we can!"

Honestly, the energy he was letting out was a bit overwhelming, but otherwise I understood where he was coming from. It was basic, but it was what I needed. I've been entrusted with a lot of responsibility, and the senpai and Ikutsuki-san trusted me over Yukari and Junpei for a reason. I can't let some stress get to me. I can't let them, or everyone else in this world down.

"Greetings, gentlemen." Junpei and I looked up.

"Same to you, Shirogane-san." I greeted.

"How ya doin'?" Junpei asked. Naoto glanced in his direction for a moment in acknowledgement before returning to face me.

"I'd like to speak to you two regarding the individual you were with today."

Oh fuck here we go.

"Ah, you mean Elizabeth?" I asked casually.

"She's a riot, isn't she?" Junpei replied.

"Indeed." Naoto responded, looking downwards with a small grin on her face. "I've never seen that woman around Iwatodai before today. And her behavior was quite eccentric."

"She's a foreign exchange student." I responded calmly, giving Junpei an opportunity to catch my drift. "She's just excited about all the things she can see here in Japan."

"Right." Junpei nodded, seemingly catching on. "She asked us earlier today to show her around town. We figured the mall was the best place to start."

"I see." Naoto nodded slowly.

"Well, curfew's almost over for our dorm, so we have to get going." I stated.

"See ya later, dude." Junpei responded with a wave.

"Wait."

Oh shit."Something else on your mind, Naoto?" I asked.

"I'd like to ask one more question. About that alley I saw you three head in. I noticed only you and Iori-san came back out."

Shitshitshitshitshit that caught me off guard, and I think Naoto noticed.

"Oh, that alley?" Junpei spoke up, surprising both myself and Naoto. "There's a secret shortcut out of the mall closer to her house I found last week. I showed it to her and Minato and she went home."

Fucking genius thinking Junpei, anything at this point helps. I can tell Naoto didn't buy it though, but she seemed oddly... impressed? Probably because of how quick Junpei thought on his feet. I was too, honestly. She clearly wanted more to say, but decided not to press the issue I guess. We parted ways legitimately this time, and Junpei and I walked home, talking about how someone's already asking questions, and how good of an excuse he came up with.

* * *

"She didn't buy it for a second, you realize that, right?"

"Yeah, but it got us away, didn't it?"

I grinned and shook my head. "Junpei, you have no idea how well you'd probably do in school if you just applied yourself a bit. You're not as stupid as people seem to think you are." Junpei sighed.

"Yeah, I know, man, but school's just so boring, you know? I mean, I'm not stupid, but what's the point when I'm not enjoying it?"

I gave a serious look. "Junpei-"

"Minato, my life sucks enough without worrying about school. Why add more suckitude to it with more things I hate?" Junpei stated sadly. "I need to do fun things, man."

I had no words at the time.

 ***CRASH***

Apparently the universe had some for me.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: I've been working on this since last summer. This is a very short chapter but dammit I've had so much going in my head about so many different subjects that I just haven't had time to work on this. Writer's block helped too. I'm disappointed but I can't think of anything else for this particular chapter, and I'm starting to think I've ran face first into a corner with the ideas I've been setting up for this story.**_

 _ **I think I'm going to have to cancel this story. It's been stressing me out everytime I look at my Stories folder on my desktop and just can't think of any more ways to go. I want to write other stories but feel like if I write those I have to write this but just have so much trouble with ideas and set ups and everything. I just didn't want to leave you hanging without one last chapter, even if it sucked like this one did.**_

 _ **I think I'll post one more update to this story, with all the ideas I had for this story, but besides that for the time being I'm done with this.**_

 _ **Thank you all and I hope you enjoy any other story I post!**_


	22. The Fool's Idea Factory

**The Fool's Idea Factory**

Hello, I'm sykotiksonik. You may remember me from such stories as Persona 3: For Every Soul and those other two stories I never updated.

I was so excited for P3FES because I had ideas I wanted to implement to make the story my own instead of just a basic retelling of the original story. Unfortunately I haven't had the time to work on it. Add in stress from work, writer's block, and trying to have a social life and you don't have a good combination. I recognize that other people can probably handle this better than I can, but I feel guilty that I had a story that a good number of people seemed to enjoy and now can't continue because my own ambition got the better of me.

But, I'd love to at least share with you some of the ideas I had for this, mainly the climax of the story where Ikutsuki turns on the team.

* * *

Naoto would've turned out to be the long lost younger sister of Minato near the end of her Social Link, and would've joined the fight near the end of the story as a replacement for Shinji when he and Ken have their altercation. Ikutsuki, instead of reprogramming Aigis, would have instead kidnapped Naoto, allowing her access to the Dark Hour. S.E.E.S., knowing the relationship between Naoto and Minato rush off to the top of Tarturus, but Minato is held off near the top by Takaya. After a long and dangerous fight, Takaya runs off and Minato makes it to the top to see a horrific sight.

Ikutsuki has reprogrammed not Aigis, but Labrys, and in the time Minato spent fighting Takaya, ambushed S.E.E.S., and she and Ikutsuki have crucified all but Aigis, who is weakened but still fighting Labyrs.

Minato snaps and summons Thanatos (who in my story is basically Super Saiyan for Minato), but still Labyrs proves a tough fight. But Aigis and Minato are able to defeat her, with Aigis powering down due to overuse of Orgia Mode. Ikutsuki somehow paralyzes Minato, and his explaining his plan while slowly walking towards him with a knife, intent on stabbing him in the heart. Before that, however, Ikutsuki monolouges about how much of a shame it is that students he personally supported have to die for such a noble cause. He states how he wished it was anybody else, and states that he's sorry he has to kill Minato, but it's for the greater good. The Devil Social Link would've leveled up to rank 10, and then Naoto, who had been freed with a few off shots from Aigis, shoots Ikutsuki in the head. But Ikutsuki doesn't die. Instead, we find out he too has a Persona (I hadn't thought exactly which one he would've had, but I was thinking Jack the Ripper). The paralysis on Minato wears off, but he's clearly been injured. Naoto, feeling the danger for both herself and her brother, summons her Persona (P4 style, of course). with the combination of a full powered Naoto and injured Minato they are able to defeat Ikutsuki for good, a Mudoon from Naoto (which would've been similar to a Shadow Ball in Pokemon) launching Ikutsuki off the top of Tarturus. Naoto's Social Link would also have leveled up to Max Rank.

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Shinjiro would not have been killed, but instead would've been hospitalized, but not comatose like in P3P. But unfortunately, he would have to be forced into inaction by Mitsuru and Akihiko. He would've made his return in the final Takaya fight right before Nyx, making a Big Damn Heroes return to finish off an exhausted Takaya who had alarmingly grown in power and had nearly defeated the entire group.

* * *

I would've included a cameo towards Roy Fortune from MagnusRagnar's "A Fool Named Fortune", but hadn't thought of how I was going to, as well as set up a sequel story for Persona 4. (I would've called this Persona 4: Every Golden Soul, see what I did there?)

* * *

Minato would've had to back out from the band competition.

* * *

Minato would've gotten into a relationship with Yukari.

* * *

Minato would not have died after the final battle against Nyx.

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Junpei would've gotten with Chidori, she would've turned on Strega and joined S.E.E.S. as an extra Navigator alongside Fuuka.

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These are just SOME of the ideas I had for this story. I apologize for not being able to capitalize on these ideas, but maybe one day when I can get more writing experience (and time, that's important) I can rewrite this story and finish it.


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